Living Life Over
by Kistelle
Summary: "You can see where I'm going with this right...?" Silence. More silence. "Congradulations on being 5 years old again!" And with that, Naruto – for the second time that day – screamed. M for language etc.. Multi pairings and pranks galore. PLEASE R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Well people, this is my first Naruto Fic. It's a time travel one coz I just love 'em.

I swear that it does get much funnier after the first couple of chapters, as you need the back-story to begin with, so please, please, please keep reading and don't forget to leave me some reviews so I know what you all think of it - no reviews makes me think you all hate what I write.

**Disclaimer : **(valid for all chapters so I don't have to write it in every one) **I don't own anything... except my character.**

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Chapter 1

Naruto was on a mission, if it could actually be called that. It was technically a C-Rank mission as it was a low level mission outside of the village, but all Naruto would call it was a shopping trip for a lazy old lady. He was supposed to collect some special 'herbs' Tsunade needed for an 'experiment'. In other words...some ingredients Tsunade wanted for the homemade sake she was determined to make in one of the hospital labs, much to Sakura's distress and against Shizune's best efforts.

It didn't matter to him that he was on his own for this one. He had managed 2 years in ANBU, kicked the ass of the Akatsuki and had just finished surviving his first year of being 'Hokage in training' to Tsunade. In his opinion that was more challenging than his time in ANBU. So all in all, he could pretty much take care of himself.

He had just finished paying for the 'required' items when he heard some form of shouting, but just barely even with his heightened senses, one of the perks of merging with the Kyuubi, so paid it little mind and continued on his way to the town gates. He could have stayed at an inn for the night as the village was just under a day away, but the closer he was to the village when he eventually slept, the quicker he would get home. That ramen wasn't going to eat itself. Naruto was just passing through the gates when he caught a whiff of an oddly familiar scent, right before a blur whizzed by him and the puff of wind caused a rippling of his hair. Tilting his head to the side he snatched the briefest glimpse of what had made the disturbance of the air.

It was only for a split second, but for a ninja that was long enough. Ragged, short brown hair, scrappy clothes and...one...green eye on an extremely skinny boy. In an instant he was gone, with a good number of townsfolk in hot pursuit. If the look of pain and fear in the boy's face wasn't enough to follow the group, then the shouts of "Monster", "Freak" and "Thief" definitely was. With a quick check to make sure that the bag of 'herbs' was nice and secure on his back, Naruto took off after the mob following the scent that still made something niggle at the back of his head.

Through the first line of trees he smelt blood and quickened his pace before he had to quickly slam on the brakes when he noticed the group had stopped up ahead. He wanted to remain hidden until he could understand what was going on a bit better. Stopping on a branch just out of sight, he didn't see the slight twitch of the boys nose, too busy taking in the young man's appearance and clenching his jaw with the more he saw.

Just ahead of him was a small clearing filled with angry looking men brandishing weapons and seething a killer intent aimed towards the boy, who was backed against a tree. He was panting, holding his side and trying to keep all of his weight off of his left leg which was concealed by a baggy trouser leg, soaked heavily in blood. Even an idiot, which Naruto did not count himself as, could see the boy was badly hurt and was hardly offering any threat. The only things Naruto could see and smell on the lad was blood and a lot of fear. There was no doubt all he wanted to do was run, meaning all Naruto wanted to do was jump in and tell the men to back off, but this wasn't his fight. Well, not yet anyway, so he leaned against the tree he was standing in and listened to what was going on.

"HOW DARE YOU SHOW UP HERE AND TRY TO STEAL OUR FOOD!" one man shouted, pointing what could only be described as a kitchen knife at the one they had finally chased down.

"Monster" hissed another while several others nodded in agreement.

Still panting through obvious pain, the boy spoke – well yelled – his defence. "IT'S NOT STEALING WHEN I TRY TO PAY FOR IT, JUST NONE OF YOU WILL ACCEPT MY FUCKING MONEY!"

"Why should we accept something that's been tainted by your demon hands?" another sneered in reply.

"Just die already!" came an order, and was the only warning the boy got before a kunai was hurtled in his direction.

With a start Naruto gathered the slight chakra boost he would need to push off the branch and jump down in time, but stopped and looked on in utter confusion. The projectile had been dodged, but a pair of fox-like ears had appeared on the boys head. His jaw went slack as he stared down dumfounded. Being merged with the Kyuubi, he was the only person he was aware of that should have ears like that.

_What the hell? What's going on?_ Naruto thought to himself, but someone was listening anyway.

**Your guess is as good as mine Kit. Well maybe... **the Kyuubi trailed off.

_What? 'Maybe' what? _Naruto asked frustrated at his lodger's vague answer.

**We can find out later, but right now don't you think it best we stop them from committing murder Ho-ka-ge?**

Naruto ignored the patronising tone of the fox and leaped down to intervene before things went too far. Swiftly stepping between the boy and now multiple projectiles, he pulled a kunai from his leg pouch and used it to gracefully deflect them from their intended target. He took a quick peek behind him to see the wide eye of the young man staring at him in sheer disbelief. Taking note that none of the weapons had hit him Naruto turned back to the crowd of men, whose shouts of protest he had been ignoring.

"Idiot! What did you protect that damn demon for?"

Naruto could almost sense the body behind him trying to merge with the tree and disappear.

"Stand aside boy! We don't tolerate _thieves_ in our town!"

Before he could reply, a harsh voice snarled out from behind him. "I HAVEN'T STOLEN SHIT FROM ANYONE! I POINTED TO THE BREAD, HELD MY HAND OUT WITH THE MONEY AND YOU SWUNG THAT ROLLING PIN AT ME AND BROKE MY FEKKEN LEG!"

Naruto's eyebrows shot up. _If he hasn't done anything wrong why are they trying to kill him? _His mind raced and was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

**Pretty stupid question** the Kyuubi snorted. **Here's a hint, think back to days long past.**

_But he isn't like me, well unless there are two Kyuubi's?_

**Idiot! People just don't like things that are different. **Kyuubi sighed then with a rather sarcastic tone added, **how you lot stay on top of the food chain is an utter mystery.**

With a mental growl to Kyuubi in an attempt to get him to be quiet, Naruto decided enough was enough and took action. With a strained grin, he faced the angry group and asked "Is there any way all of you can just leave this to me?"

Strained laughter was his answer, along with "Are you kidding? My wife wants me to bring home one of those damn ears to prove that it's dead!"

He slumped his shoulders and felt the boy tense behind him, before his face brightened, "Fun way it is then." With the ease of years of practise his left hand, the one not holding the kunai, blurred at the speed he used to go through a series of hand gestures, he didn't even need to yell out loud now. Before the men knew what hit them, they had been charged down by four of Naruto's shadow clones. Once they were all unconscious Naruto turned to find the boy blinking at him in sheer confusion.

However, he was promptly snapped out of it when the blonde made the slightest move forward. He stumbled around the tree he had been using for support and when forced to use his broken leg he bit his lip hard enough for it to bleed. However, not even for an instant did his eye leave Naruto's eye.

Naruto saw the fear and suspicion in that eye, and smiled softly while he took a better look at his fox-eared companion. His hair was uneven and unkempt, just like his baggy, patchy clothes and rather torn up ears. If the scars on his hands, feet, neck and face were anything to go by he had been treated very roughly in life, even though he only looked around 16 or 17. But his most noticeable feature, apart from the ears, was his missing right eye which, if the scar over it was anything to go by, had been mauled out by something. The warmth of his smile increased to try and reassure the boy he was no threat when he noticed that he was squirming under the visual inspection.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt ya!" he reassured. "I just saved you remember." He grinned hoping to lighten the tense mood.

It didn't work. The boy just narrowed his gaze and tried to move further away.

**Try removing your Genjutsu. **Kyuubi advised.

With a nod, Naruto did just that with a few quick motions with his hands. "See I'm like you."

The eye just narrowed further, but Naruto simply ignored it and pressed on. "I get my ears and tail from Kyuubi who was sealed right here," he patted his stomach, "when I was a baby." He tilted his head to the side. "What about you?"

The young man just stared at him, as if trying to decide if he was an illusion or just plain mad. Naruto was about to say something else when he spied the rock the boy had picked up just before he hurled it at him. With that minute distraction the boy seemed to have discovered some sort of hidden strength reserve and was promptly fleeing in the opposite direction, if with a slight limp.

**This is getting tiresome**. Kyuubi growled, while Naruto just sighed.

_He needs medical treatment._

**Indeed, but not willingly.**

The blue-eyed ninja could just feel the feral grin appearing on Kyuubi's face in his head. He shook his head and took off after the boy for the second time in less than 10 minutes before quickly appearing right in the boy's path and dealing a weakened but effective blow to the stomach and knocking him unconscious.

With a tight smile Naruto hefted the remarkably bony boy over his shoulder, only to realise with a jolt that one part wasn't bony, or more specifically, two.

Flushing slightly he gave a small cough. _You knew this didn't you? _

**That she was in fact female? Yes, I knew straight away with her scent. You should really learn the difference, Kit. **Kyuubi snickered.

_Shut up..._ Naruto grumbled back as he set off home.


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

She awoke slowly. A run-down, sluggish feeling desperately tried to tempt her back to sleep, but nowhere was safe to sleep for too long and the rather restored feeling told her she had already slept far too long. She had to get up and move. Despite much protest her limbs slowly regained their awareness along with her senses. With a groggy confusion she could only frown at the soft, clean sheets she felt between her fingers and comfortable pillow beneath her head. It wasn't until her nose woke up and she caught the distinct smell of disinfectant that alarms bells sounded in her head and her eye shot open. Silently cursing the bear that had mauled her eye as a child for the millionth time, she discreetly turned her head from side to side to get a full view of where she was.

She was in a hospital room as far as she could tell with the white walls, plain furniture and far off bleeps of monitors. She sprung up into a sitting position and saw that she was alone in the single room. With a near silent sigh of relief she went to move off the bed to inspect her leg, but a small tug on her arm caught her attention. Turning she found a drip connected to a small bag of fluids. Tilting her head to the side, causing her ears – or what was left of them really – to go lop-sided and frowned. Fluids equalled medical help and medical help equalled bad things to come, at least in her experience. With deft hands she removed the drip, stood off of the bed and inhaled sharply with shock.

_My leg doesn't hurt! Why the hell doesn't my leg hurt? _She quickly pressed her chest just under her left breast. _What in the hell? I'm sure my ribs were broken. Just what is going on here? I'm starting to get the creeps..._ Shaking slightly, she looked down at herself. _Okay I officially have the creeps. What am I wearing? _

Panic was quickly starting to set in and she made a dash for the windows, deliberately pushing the fact that she was wearing a form fitting hospital gown down to her knees to the back of her mind. The door was not an option in her opinion. Doors led to corridors, corridors led to people and people was the opposite of what she wanted right now, if ever to be honest. She pulled the first window she reached. It wouldn't budge. She moved onto the next one, the one after that and the one after that. Each time she tried she could feel the panic rise in her throat. She didn't want to break the glass if she didn't have to. It would draw attention and give her less time to get away.

Her ears twitched. Someone was coming. She glanced around again. The room was bare save from the bed, a couple of uncomfortable looking chairs and a screen in the far corner away from the door. With deathly silence and lightning speed, as she was no longer injured, she dashed behind the screen and got into a defensive position, ready to spring away at the smallest hint of danger. She was simply following one of her most important lessons in life, the instant you're not careful is the instant you die.

_I've got plenty of scars to prove that theory,_ she ground out in her head as she clenched her jaw. _Let's just see what they want with me._ She shut off any vocal thoughts when the door opened.

Flaring her nostrils she took a silent sniff of the new occupants of the room. She recognised one as the blonde man from before. She still wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him for saving her, or kill him for knocking her out, well at least maim him. There were two women and another man with him. Her eyes narrowed. That was still four people too many for her liking, but she kept absolutely still and listened intently for any cue to make a break for it.

"What the-? She's gone!" exclaimed the stunned voice of her savoir/captor.

"Naruto you idiot! Did you remember to lock the windows?" scolded the voice of a young woman.

"Of course! I'm the one that told you she would probably make a dash for it." The blonde defended.

"Dope." Voiced a monotone male, before a set of footsteps headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" asked an older female.

The footsteps paused. "To ask the nurses if they've seen anyone pass by." The steps continued and were followed by the door being snapped shut.

The blonde sounded to be over by the bed, if his loud huff was anything to go by, before he made a surprised "Huh?"

"What?" the young woman asked him.

"Kyuubi says to take a good sniff."

"Shouldn't you have thought of that before?" the older woman sighed.

"Heh heh..." The young man replied sheepishly and made distinct sniffing noises.

She tensed, ready to dish out anything they could throw at her.

"She's over there, behind the screen."

She near deadpanned. He would have had a much better chance of catching her if he took her by surprise. He truly was an idiot as the woman had said. She forced down her heart's desperate desire to speed up rapidly, ordering it to stay steady and even after years of practise, and readied what was left of her claws at the sharp clicks of heels striding towards the screen. Her ears shot backwards and her eye narrowed further just before a feminine hand gripped the side of the screen and cautiously pulled it to the side.

She took in the woman's appearance with a single glance. There was usually never any time for anything more than that. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties with blonde hair, amber eyes and a sizable chest. With a quick glance in her direction the blonde woman smiled at her and, although she allowed none of it to show on her face, confusion sparked fiercely inside the fox-eared brunette. That smile was warm, encouraging. It held not even the smallest hint of malice or fear, even to the girl's thoroughly trained eye. Confused or not, she held her ready position.

"Naruto sure knows how to pick 'em." She remarked jokingly.

"What's that supposed to mean Grandma?" the blonde that was obviously called Naruto whined.

The elder woman turned in his direction and raised a slightly shaking fist towards him. "For the last time, it's Hokage!" she snapped before lowering her fist and turning back towards their guest with a frustrated sigh and took note of the girl's now wider eye.

_Shit! _Her no vocal thoughts rule flew out the window. _This is the freaking Hokage? Something really weird is going on here and I'm not sure if I want to hang around long enough to find out._ Unable to stop herself, she gulped nervously.

This was noticed and prompted the Hokage to say "We're to help you, not hurt you, so you wanna stop looking like you're going to scratch my eyes out?" with all the reassurance she could find. When she still did not move in the slightest, the older woman sighed sadly. "I wouldn't have bothered getting Sakura to heal you if I intended to do you harm."

_That's true..._ She lowered her stance but kept up her guard.

With a smile the Hokage stepped to the side and motioned for her to step out from her hiding place. She waited until the woman had backed away far enough that she no longer blocked her access to the door, just in case. Her change in vantage point allowed her to see the other two people in the room. She remembered the whiskered blonde form earlier so let her eye quickly pass by him and looked at the younger woman. She had pink hair just past her shoulders held back by a leaf headband, pale green eyes and a gentle smile. She wore a short-sleeved, form fitting, red top that reached her hip before going into a narrow panel, about a hands breadth across, that stopped half-way down her thighs with a matching panel at the back. She was very pretty and unconsciously caused her to shrink back just a bit.

Fed up with forcing herself to not twitch under the constant gaze of three people she found herself taking the initiative, something she never usually did as it tended to have unfortunate consequences. "What do you want with me?" she asked, trying to sound as cold as possible.

"How about we start off with names?" The pinkette offered then pointed to herself. "I'm Sakura Haruno." She pointed to the blonde, who simply puts his hands behind his head and grinned. "That's Naruto Uzumaki." She indicated the Hokage. "This is Lady Tsunade and the man that should have been back by now is my fiancé, Sasuke Uchiha."

She relaxed a fraction, but kept up her cold and unfeeling appearance. "I'll ask again. What do you want with me?"

Sakura and Tsunade looked a little saddened by her repeated question, but it was the lowering of Naruto's ears and sigh that caught her attention.

"Can you leave us alone for a little bit?" he asked the two women. They nodded and left the room at a casual pace, but not before giving her a kind smile each. She had kept her ears back, but at their friendly expressions they twitched in curiosity.

Once the door was shut behind them Naruto let out another sigh to get her attention again, and was about to say something to her, but was interrupted by a couple of loud yelps coming from the corridor followed by a yell of "GET BACK HERE SASUKE!"

Her ears had shot forward and her eye had snapped wide open while she looked at the door in confusion. Her left ear, then her head, turned towards Naruto as he let out a low chuckle. "He must have been cornered by flirting nurses again." He said rather amused.

As if he had just noticed her eye on him, he shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the windowed wall, propping a foot onto its toes in the process. Then with the indication that he had decided to jump straight to the heart of the matter, he confronted her. "I can understand why you are so scared to trust anyone, but surely you can see that we really just want to help you, right? It can't be the first time someone has tried to help you out."

He flinched at her pointed stare. "Okay...maybe it is the first time, but there's a first time for everything." He finished with a nervous smile and scratched his cheek.

She didn't reply and silently studied him. She may have been half blind, but even she could see he was very handsome, especially with those bottomless blue eyes, blazing red fox ears and matching fluffy tail that softly swished from side to side. _Get a hold of yourself! If you stare any harder you'll start to drool! _She mentally slapped herself, but allowed her curious question to slip between her lips. "You're not half demon, so why do you have the ears and tail and smell strongly of fox?"

"Ah! Well, you know the Kyuubi?" He took her slight gasp as a yes. "Well he was sealed inside me when I was a born, so I'm a jinchuuriki, but I merged with him a few years ago to kinda stop from dying. When I did I got these furry things." He used the index finger of each hand to point to his ears and tail. "What about you?" He asked smiling, hoping that she was starting to open up a bit.

No matter how many times she kept giving herself a mental shake she just could not stop lowering her guard around him. Her head was screaming at her to run, just like it always did, but her body simply responded _screw you, I'm not listening._ Unaware that she was wringing her hands together, she replied in an almost inaudible voice, but Naruto's sensitive hearing picked it up. "I'm a half demon." She said, avoiding his gaze.

"Huh?" her eye shot up. "How does that work?"

She gaped at him. _Is he seriously this dense?_ She was about to explain it to him when she caught the distant look in his eyes.

When he seemed to come back to reality, he gave her a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "Sorry. Kyuubi decided to only just tell me that Fox Demons can take on human shape and..." he trailed off as a blush tinted his cheeks.

"That's the basics of it." She agreed. "My mother was human and my father was a Fox Demon." _There, sweet and simple. Maybe it won't take too much for him to get that._ She thought sarcastically with smile trying to pull at her mouth.

"Where are they now?"

All humour dropped from her face and she had to actually turn away to hide the hurt she still keenly felt after so long.

"Me too." Naruto said softly and she burled back to face him in surprise.

"I thought Tsunade-" she started to ask but was interrupted by his laughter.

"I just call her Granny Tsunade. She's actually much older than she looks, but uses a genjutsu to hide it." He paused and waited for her nod of understanding. "I don't actually have any relatives, and didn't have anybody even close to family for a lot of my life." He continued in a far-off voice. "I know what it's like to be alone, and to be hated for something that you have no control over, but with a lot of hard work I've got the people of this village to acknowledge me and accept me."

The look he gave her had her at a loss for words. He seemed to radiate warmth and kindness. It effectively had her stunned and she had to lock her legs in place to stop them from giving way as the intense wave of relief and acceptance washed over her. With as much pain and fear as she always felt, with as adamant as she was to never trust anyone, this man had in a matter of minutes had gained her unconditional trust.

Her mind was blank save for one thought. _Well, shit..._

"You okay?" he asked concerned. Her expression and visible trembling obviously had him worried.

She nodded dumbly before her knees buckled against her best efforts and Naruto rushed to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She stared at him. She felt numb, but for the first time in so, so long, she didn't mind. It wasn't from intense cold, severe blood loss, some sort of sedating drug or poison or being utterly exhausted. It was from feeling safe, welcomed. Tears made noiseless treks down her cheek.

With a lop-sided, sheepish grin Naruto asked, "Oh yeah, what's your name?"

She blinked a couple of times before his question registered and she wiped her eye with the back of her hand. She sniffled then gave him her first smile in years, and the first of many to come.

"Fumiko."

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The next week seemed to blur together in one, happy daze for Fumiko. She had a constant swollen spot on her wrist where she was forever pinching herself to prove that this was in fact reality and not one of the dreams she had long since given up on.

She glanced at Naruto, who was walking to her left, and thought back to the previous week.

:Flashback:

It was after she had calmed down somewhat and went to get up from the hospital room floor that both she and Naruto noticed it had opened a little to reveal a _tad_ more skin. She had shrieked and he had dove for the door with the hasty excuse of finding Sakura and getting her to find Fumiko some clothes. As soon as he was out the door she had rushed to the bed and hidden under the sheets, deciding with a scowl of her face that if he ever mentioned it again she would promptly slap him.

She had managed to subdue her racing heartbeat after a few minutes of being alone and found that it was impossible to keep a small smile off her lips when she thought about the current turn of events. At one point a nurse came in with some food and checked her over. She scolded Fumiko for taking the drip out but said that it had done its work and didn't need to be replaced. The fox-girl only half listened with most of her focus being on the warm, inviting food. The nurse had giggled and told her to take her time as Miss Haruno would be about another 30 minutes.

She didn't care what the food was and started shovelling it down her throat as soon as the woman was gone. She leaned back on the pillow with a contented sigh when she finished, and was almost drifting off into sleep when she heard a couple of people approaching, one of which she smelled was Sakura. They knocked but didn't wait for a reply before opening the door.

"Hey there..." Sakura started enthusiastically, but trailed off.

Fumiko quickly understood the problem. The idiot hadn't passed on her name, so she provided it to the pinkette and her new blonde companion. "Fumiko."

"Hey there Fumiko!" Sakura tried again with renewed zest. "This is my friend Ino Yamanaka." She nodded to the blonde girl to her right.

"Hi." Ino said happily. Her light blue eyes sparkled.

_Great..._ Fumiko thought. _Another really pretty girl to put my appearance in perspective. Is there something in the water around here or what?_

"We brought you some clothes." Ino started, holding up a pile of clothes. "But these are just for now because after this we are going shopping.

The box in Sakura's hand and the mischievous glint in both of the girls' eyes made Fumiko feel uneasy. "After what?" she asked.

Both girls just grinned.

_This can't be good..._

"It's makeover time!" Ino chirped.

Fumiko could only stare in frozen horror as the two women pounced.

:End Flashback:

She had to silently thank them now. Her hair was now clean and in a neat bob with a deep side parting so that all of her new bangs were to the right side of her face, effectively hiding the scar over her missing eye. The rest of the scars on her face were now covered by light make-up that her two new friends – she still felt bubbly and warm thinking that – had bought her and shown her how to use.

She idly fiddled with the fingers of her gloves. The outfit she had ended up with was simple and covered all of her bodily scars without being too baggy, but she had to fight to not end up with the extremely form fitting items Sakura and Ino tried to get her into. Her under-top was blue, very short sleeved and came down to her hips, but it also had ties on the sleeves that were used to attach arm-length, full-fingered gloves in a matching blue. On top of this was a pink, wide-collared top with white seams that stopped just after her bust. Accompanying these were loose, brown combats that gathered in under the knee to snugly fit her legs, before disappearing under the usual ninja footwear.

She still didn't get it, but once Naruto had seen her new look he had blushed for some reason – she hoped for his sake he wasn't thinking back to the hospital – before he had taken her on the grand tour of Konoha and was adamant that she meet all his friends. While they continued walking Fumiko decided to review them in her head to make sure she would remember them.

There was, of course, Sakura and Ino, and they had eventually tracked down Sasuke Uchiha, who was sporting a suspicious bump on top of his head.

Oh and then there was also Neji and Tenten Hyuuga. She had to stifle a giggle as she recalled the exasperated look on Neji's face while Naruto patted Tenten's generous stomach.

She remembered the bug-guy Shino Aburami, who seemed nice but still gave her the creeps a little.

She had felt sorry for Choji Akimichi when the well proportioned young man had ended up being Ino's personal pack-horse, but Fumiko caught the lingering touches and soft glances Ino directed towards him and he quite clearly worshiped her, so she was just left to wonder how that would eventually work out.

They had found Kiba Inuzuka out walking his ninja dog Akamaru, hand in hand with his blushing girlfriend Hinata Hyuuga. With one look at the girl's eyes, Fumiko could easily she how she was Neji's cousin once Naruto had told her of their relation.

She had been left mentally scarred after their run-in with Gai and Rock Lee. She shivered when that dazzling sunset popped into her head. _I'm going to have nightmares from that._ She shivered again and Naruto gave her a quizzical look. She just answered with a reassuring smile and he just gave a small nod, turning back to look where he was going.

She lifted her chin a little and touched it with her index finger as she tried to remember the rest of Naruto's friends. He had so many.

In a dango stand they found Anko trying to steal Kakashi's book while keeping a firm grip of Iruka's shoulder so that he couldn't run and get out of paying like he had promised, even though he repeatedly stated that he had promised no such thing and had just been kidnapped so that she could get out of paying. After a few quick 'hello's and the avoidance of some flying – empty – dango skewers, the pair made their escape.

The whole time they were looking for these people Naruto was telling her about the ones who were no longer with them and how Konoha used to look. When he talked about his perverted teacher Fumiko didn't even realise she had put a comforting hand on his arm until after she had done it, and blushed furiously at her action.

In the streets she met Kurenai walking with her gorgeous daughter, who had the same intense red eyes. The teacher had enlisted the help of some teenage ninja to help carry her groceries. Fumiko had quickly discovered that these three were called Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru, the last of which seemed to be Naruto's pupil – of sorts – with the way he was calling him boss and giving him an update on what he had learned. After some idle banter and a few joking references to Fumiko being Naruto's girlfriend, which she laughed off but all he could do was blush madly and splutter denials.

_He better not have been thinking of that hospital robe again..._ she mentally fumed when she remembered how red his face at been at the accusations.

He had treated her to lunch every day, as she found herself being pulled to his friends' homes for dinner every night, and fast realised that not only was ramen his favourite food, but hers also, much to both his and the stands owners' delight. Naruto told her about how one of the first things he helped rebuild after Konoha's destruction was the Ichiraku Ramen Stand to help Teuchi and his daughter Ayame get back into business. However, Fumiko guessed there was more to it than that as they may have charged Naruto for their meals but at a single digit percent of the actual price, even with their average of five bowls each.

She smiled happily thinking about the taste of the delicious ramen and kept pace alongside Naruto.

They were on their way to a scroll storage bunker in the woods on the far side of the village to pick up some ancient ones that were required for study. She shouldn't have been included in this endeavour, but she had bumped into the intelligent Shikamaru in the Hokage tower and he had dropped a couple scrolls he had been carrying. One of which fell open slightly and she recognised a couple of the symbols. They were very similar to a form of writing she had found herself studying when taking shelter in some ruins for a couple of winters, so she had been asked to go with Naruto to the bunker and see if she could find some scrolls she may be able to decipher. She may not have had any schooling other than her parents teaching her how to read and write as a child, but she was very intelligent and had ended up teaching herself many things with whatever materials she could find.

By the time she had finished replaying the past week in her head they were at their destination and were descending the stairs into a dusty darkness. She laughed in the nearly non existing light as she watched Naruto fumble with some matches and decided to put him out of his misery. With a remarkably soundless click of her left fingers, a small blue flame appeared in her hand. She held it up to him, the two of them now bathed in light, and giggled at his nod of thanks before setting about lighting the torches in the room so they could see what they were doing.

They had often found themselves laughing and teasing one another easily, as if they were old friends, but the silence between them now was comfortable and they set to work. Well she set to work, he just raked through the scrolls trying to find ones he could read and see if they had any jutsus he could use.

He promptly halted his hunt however at the painful yelp from Fumiko before she dropped the scroll she had been inspecting on the floor. Naruto sat his back on its shelf and went over to find her sucking the side of her finger.

"What happened?" he asked.

"A very nasty paper cut." She replied. The words were muffled as they were forced round the digit still in her mouth.

"Let me see." Naruto chuckled at her antics and took hold of her hand.

Neither of them noticed the abandoned, and now bloodstained, scroll that was steadily turning black.

"You're just a walking disaster." He teased.

Where the scroll had been was now a black hole in the floor and it was getting bigger.

"You're one to talk." She shot back pouting.

The blackness stretched under their feet until it encompassed them both completely and shivers went up their spines.

Their eyes widened.

They looked down.

It was too late.

Everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

There had been a sharp chakra surge in the direction of the woods to the far side of the village, but it had disappeared within a few seconds of spiking, so that was why Kakashi now found himself and two fellow ANBU spread out in the woods, in the rain, at 3 am. It was easy to see why he was ticked off to say the least.

Keeping to the tree branches, Kakashi was just passing over the hidden scroll bunker and sensed an extremely faint chakra resonance and it was the same chakra that had spiked mere minutes before. With the utmost caution present in ANBU he approached and then entered the secured building, quirking an eyebrow that there was absolutely no indication it had been entered at all in years, yet alone had a forced entry.

He stopped when he stepped into the main storage room and took out a small packet of matches from his vest. Once one was lit he carefully he looked in all directions, but his visible eye went wide when he looked down. Slowly he moved forward a little and crouched down to better inspect his find, but before he could take a good look the flame of the match hit his finger tips, causing him to hiss. He stayed stock still in the darkness and listened for sounds of movement from the floor in front of him. There was none. With a sigh he lit another match and held it above his discovery once more, unable to stop a small, curious smile under his mask.

There lay the curled, sleeping forms of two children with their hands interlocked and faces snuggled close. Each was laying in a different direction and caused the pair to resemble a 'ying yang' symbol. He instantly knew the blonde boy to be Naruto, what ninja wouldn't with the number of times they had to hunt him down, sometimes unsuccessfully. However, the girl was a complete mystery, even without her small bushy tail and fox ears.

He would have simply looked for a little longer, but he knew his team would find him soon and while he was accepting of Naruto and did not see the girl as a threat, he couldn't go so far as to say the same for his comrades. He quickly took out and opened a storage scroll and summoned a blanket to wrap the girl in to hide her animal extras for the moment. Wedging a new match between a couple of floor tiles to keep it upright, he picked up the girl and saw the numerous rips and soot smudges on her clothes before basically cocooning her completely, except for her face, in the blanket. As soon as she was held securely in one arm and Naruto was in the other Kakashi made his way out of the structure and instantly found himself in the company of his teammates.

"Did you find the source?" one of them asked.

"Yeah." He shifted his two bundles. "Looks like it was these two."

The one that had been silent so far pointed at Naruto and started to ask "Isn't that-" but was cut off by Kakashi's "Yeah."

Even with their masks he could feel them scowling at the young boy and had to reign in the impulse to snap at them. "Let's get back to the Third." He ordered with a tinge more bite than he had meant to.

The other two nodded and took off after him, neither offering to take either child from him.

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The Third yawned for what felt like the hundredth time in the past 15 minutes. As soon as he had set his hand back onto the desk there was a brisk knock on his door.

"Come in." He sighed.

The group he had sent out to investigate the chakra surge entered and it took the elderly man all of 3 seconds to recognise the tuft of blonde hair. With a low groan, he dismissed the other two ANBU and beckoned Kakashi forward once the door was firmly shut behind them.

"What's he done this time?" he asked the silver-haired man begrudgingly.

"I'm not actually sure to be honest."

"What do you mean?"

"Well the signature came from the forbidden scroll bunker, but there was no sign of forced entry, or that even anything inside had been moved."

"Really?" the Hokage pondered aloud, rubbing his chin while Kakashi set Naruto down against the wall to the side of the desk. However, when the ninja turned back towards him the Third saw that one of his arms was still full.

Making eye contact, the elder raised his eyebrows in question and they shot up to his receding hair line when Kakashi unwrapped the blanket to reveal the brown haired girl with the fox ears and tail.

"She was lying beside him inside the chamber." He told the Hokage as he shifted his animal mask to the top of his head and placed the small girl beside Naruto. "I guess we'll have to wait for them to wake up, though the girl has some minor burns and should really have them looked at but..." the ears and tail would be a problem.

"Use a genjutsu to hide them." The Third told him. "And take them both to the hospital to be looked at, then come and give me your report."

"Yes sir."

"Oh and have them put in a double room." Sarutobi added as an afterthought. "I have a feeling that it would be unwise to allow them to wake up and find themselves separated."

Kakashi picked the children up and nodded. With a swish of the air he was gone, leaving the Third Hokage to rub his temples in vain. _I'm going to get a headache from this..._

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Awareness came slowly, well that was until a rather frustrated voice yelled in his head.

**WAKE UP ALREADY! I can only hide your extras myself for so long.**

"5 more minutes..." he mumbled out loud.

**No NOW!** If he had been a physical being at that point in time, Kyuubi would have soundly clamped down on the blonde's backside.

However, Naruto had been motivated, if somewhat reluctantly, to roll onto his back and sleepily go through the motions to snap his genjutsu in place.

**Finally! **Seethed the fox.

_Yeah, yeah..._Naruto mentally waved him off and opened his eyes to be met with the familiar sight of the hospital ceiling. He drowsily closed his eyes, but they shot open an instant later. It wasn't the newly finished ceiling of the hospital he knew. It was the cracked and damp in places one from before Konoha's destruction. He snapped into a sitting upright position and stared wide-eyed at the room.

_What is going on?_

**Try looking down. **Kyuubi suggested barely able to contain his snigger.

With a confused frown the boy blonde looked down...and screamed.

Kyuubi on the other hand laughed in full-throated mirth.

Catching his breath, which was still coming out in quick pants, Naruto asked out loud, "What happened?" and replayed his last memory back in his head. _The last thing I remember was that scroll and Fumiko cutting..._his thoughts paused. _Fumiko!_ He jerked his head around almost painfully to see a girl lying in the bed that was alongside his own. He walked over and grumbled at having to stand on the chair to peer down at the girl.

This only renewed Kyuubi's laughing fit.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the fox's behaviour and returned to looking at the girl. She certainly had Fumiko's hair and ear colour, as genjutsu only had temporary effects on her natural form, but where there had been rips and missing fur, these were perfectly intact, drooping to the side with the tilt of her head and were unbelievably cute! He was about to reach over and touch one to see if it was as soft as it looked, but Kyuubi stopped him.

**That would be called invasion of personal space. **He commented.

_You finally finished your hysterics? _Naruto mentally sneered.

**For the moment. I think there are more important things to discuss.**

_What? Like the why I'm a kid again?_

**Precisely.**

_Okay then, Oh Wise One, _the blonde thought sarcastically, _care to share some of that wisdom?_

With a huff Kyuubi decided to tell Naruto what he knew. They would only be left alone for so long. **Here's the deal Kit. Your girlfriend there – **

_Friend, not girlfriend! _Naruto interrupted.

**You ever heard of denial?**

_Just get on with it!_

**Fine...Well anyway, the scroll she was looking at was imbedded with a time jutsu. A jutsu only activated by**** demon blood, hence why none of you humans could activate it before.**

Naruto's jaw went slack and his face went pale.

**You can see where I'm going with this right...?**

Silence

More silence

With a nervous chuckle Kyuubi decided to stop the boy's total brain shut down. **Congratulations on being 5 years old again!**

And with that, Naruto – for the second time that day – screamed. He would have continued screaming if it weren't for the soft moan coming from the bed. Sapphire blue eyes snapped to the wriggling form of the now waking girl.

Fumiko's ears twirled downwards and she yawned lazily as she moved onto her side. She gave a contented sigh and sleepily opened her eyes. Emerald met sapphire. She blinked. "Hey Whiskers. Where am I?" she asked, but the blonde only stared in return, blushing slightly. "What-"she stopped. Something was off. She took a better look at him, all of him.

She gaped at him, but his stare had never left her eyes._ Wait...eyes...?_ she pondered and lifted her hand to her right eye, catching a glimpse of her child-like hands. It rested there for a minute, trembling, before she closed her eyes, spilling the tears that had been resting there. She felt warmth enclose her left hand, which was gripping the bed sheets tightly. She brought her right down, placed it on top of his and looked at him through teary eyes. "What happened?" she asked with a small sniff.

"Kyuubi says that scroll you were holding had a blood activating, time jutsu in it so we've basically went back in time to when I was 5." At her sharp intake of breath he quickly attempted to soften the blow of reality. "It's not so bad when you think about it." He grinned the way only a fox could. "I know there are loads of things I want to change for the better." The grin left his face, but a smile remained. "What about you?" he questioned.

Fumiko looked down at herself. Being a child again was defiantly weird, but she could get used to it. However, if the rips and smudges on her clothes were anything to go by, then she could guess that the bandages covered already healing burns and..._The only thing I would have changed has already happened._ She lowered her head and felt the intense loss hit her for the second time in her life. However, she could feel Naruto's worried eyes boring into her head so she pushed the despair deep down inside her heart. She would mourn later.

She smiled at the whiskered boy to let him know she was alright. Then, taking her hands back, she indicated the state of her clothing by pulling at the shoulders of her tunic top. "By the looks of things I've already missed my chance." She told him. Her sadness was evident.

There was a question in his eyes so she answered it. "My clothes only got in this state, and I only got the burns, the day after my parents were killed. The day I made it back to the house to find only charred wood and belongings, and the distant boasting of the villagers that they had scattered my parent's ashes to the wind so that they knew they would never come back." Her now delicate hands curled into fists as anger burned through her veins.

"Erm..." her silent fury was brought to a halt by Naruto's nervous mumble.

"What?" she asked. She was surprised at how soft and calm she sounded when faced with his concern.

"We could ask the Old Man if we can put a small memorial for them in the Konoha graveyard."

"Really!" she couldn't believe someone would do something like that for her, but she was getting used to Naruto surprising her.

"Yeah." He grinned. "He won't mind. I'm sure of it, but we still need to go ask him – along with a few other things."

**That's an understatement.** Kyuubi piped up, but was ignored.

"Yeah like what's going to happen to me." Fumiko said unaware of the inner conversation.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked her jumping down from the chair so that she herself could get down from the bed, as he had been blocking her way with the bed being pushed right up to the window on the other side.

"Am I even going to be allowed to stay in the village, for example?" she questioned him as he peeked out the door.

"I'm giving Gramps no choice in that!" he laughed.

She giggled. "Okay, then where am I going to stay?"

"With me, stupid." He quipped smartly.

Fumiko growled menacingly.

**Retract the 'stupid'; retract the 'stupid'** Kyuubi chanted in his head. Naruto hastily snapped the door shut and turned back to her with a hand rubbing the back of his head and a sheepish grin on his face.

"Sorry."

She huffed and turned her back on him to get a drink of the glass of water that was sitting on her bedside table. Little did she know that the easily distracted blonde now had his gaze locked on her backside, well the white and brown tail in front of it. _She didn't have a tail before._

**She was also missing an eye remember?** Kyuubi reminded him, but yet again he wasn't being listened to.

He walked over to her, which she heard and smelled but ignored, putting her focus in getting rid of her thirst. However, before she knew it, there was a delightfully warm, tingling and slightly sedating feeling running up her spine, until she realised where it was coming from – and what was causing it. Spraying out her mouthful of water and choking on what had went the other way, she smashed the cup back onto the table and turned on Naruto, fist raised, teeth bared, tail swishing furiously from side to side agitatedly and ears flattened backwards.

"This is your only warning Nami." She growled between clenched teeth. Somewhere in the middle of the week of knowing each other he had told her of his father's surname, Namikaze. She had unconsciously shortened it to Nami and used it whenever he pissed her off. "You _never_ touch a girl's tail without her express permission!"

_Help me out here! _Naruto pleaded with Kyuubi as Fumiko grabbed the front of his t-shirt snarling.

**You're on your own Kit. Nothing is scarier than a pissed off FemFox. **With that Naruto could have sworn he felt Kyuubi trying to hide in the furthest reaches of his mind.

"Got it?" she ordered more than asked.

Naruto nodded violently.

"Good!" she chirped, much too sweetly, as she let him go.

But he still had to ask, "How come you have a tail now?"

"The same way I have both my eyes now."

**That's what I said.**

_Shut up!_

"I was caught off guard when I was about twelve and some rouge ninja thought it would be funny to cut it off and wear it attached to their belt." She got a deadly glint in her eyes. "Don't worry though. I left one with no arm and the other with no foot." She gave him her own fox grin, which he returned when she added a bit more to her story. "I shouldn't really laugh, but it's one of those things where if you don't laugh you cry. That and watching him trying to hop after me was sickly funny."

**I like her already. **Kyuubi sadistically giggled.

Naruto was in the middle of chiding the fox in his head when he sensed Fumiko stiffen in front of him. "What?" he asked her.

"Someone's coming."

He looked to her ears. "Hide them, quick!" he whispered sharply as even with his slightly tuned down, but still more sensitive than most, hearing he could clearly make out footsteps on the corridors tiles.

Fumiko nodded and with a quick twitch of her head her furry extras were gone from sight.

Naruto could only raise his eyebrows before the door opened to reveal an elderly gentleman in white and red robes, with a matching hat standing on his own in the hallway.

With a kind smile he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hey Old Man!" Naruto grinned with his hands behind his head. "Long time no see!"

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><p>Here's a link to my illustration of how Naruto and Fumiko appear when Kakashi finds them.<p>

http:/kistelle deviantart com/art/Just-Arrived-213717675 (replace the spaces with dots)

Please take a look!


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the next chapter for y'all.

Thank you soooo much for all the reviews and faves! Hope you keep reading.

Remember and leave reviews please!

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><p>\\ /\\

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Chapter 4

It was the early hours of the evening by the time Naruto and Fumiko had explained their situation for the fourth time, after which Naruto went into details of the events he hoped to prevent in the next couple of years, firmly stating that more information on later events would be given closer to the time.

They had already figured out that a transportation jutsu was laced into the scroll that had caused this mess, giving the reason as to why both the 'children' had appeared in the location it had been activated, instead of where they were at that time previously.

Fumiko listened intently to Naruto's retelling of the tragedies that those close to him should not have to endure this time around, all the while watching the exchange between the elder ninja and young boy with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. She couldn't decide if it was a conversation of grandparent and grandchild with the way the two interacted with each other, or two equally powerful ninja when Naruto's presence seemed to increase and he held a level stare with the man behind the desk whenever they disagreed. One of those occasions was the discussion about the Uchiha coup.

With a very sour expression the Third told Naruto that he was aware of what was happening and was handling the problem.

"No you're not Old Man!" Naruto exclaimed.

The elder quirked an eyebrow. Even after hours, he still wasn't used to being questioned by a boy, and notorious prankster to boot. "What would you suggest Naruto?" he asked, not expecting the boy to have the answer he himself could not find.

The blonde however had been putting that question to both himself and Kyuubi for years now, but what they had thought of was both messy and extremely risky. "Create a civil war within the clan."

The Third choked.

"There are far more Uchiha loyal to you than you know. Many would be reluctant to go against the leaders of their clan, but with some convincing from fellow clan members, and maybe a small mention of what would happen if they didn't, it wouldn't take them long to come around." Naruto explained turning to lean against the desk and face the same way as the Hokage with his arms folded, pointedly ignoring the fact that the edge of it was barely at his eyelevel.

Sarutobi leaned back as he listened to the reasoning behind the boy's suggestion. Fingers linked together, he thought it over. It was very risky and no one would come away from it unharmed in some form or another, but the only other alternative was completely unacceptable in his opinion. He had an idea why the council was pushing for it, the main one being his rival for Hokage, Danzo. No, Naruto may still appear to be a child, but his thinking was well beyond the age he looked. The Third Hokage nodded.

"I must agree with you Naruto." He sighed. "However, I must move quickly on this if we are to have everything prepared before time runs out on us."

"Yeah." Relief was clear in the boy's voice now that he knew his friend might not be scarred so deeply and had a chance for a better life.

Fumiko, who was now casually sitting on the edge of the desk as she saw no apparent reason to forever be in a formal way of behaviour after such a long time in the same room, gave a small smile. She was glad that Naruto had managed to at least start the wheels of change turning. It might take a while for anything to come of it, but a start was a start.

Sarutobi had questioned whether she should remain present for this meeting, but the blue-eyed boy had flatly refused to allow her to be left out, that they were in this together, take it or leave it. If anything else, she knew he wasn't going to let her feel alone anymore, a simple act that made her more happy and grateful than she could ever express. Her musings though were cut off by Naruto's next statement.

"We're running out of time in another couple of matter as well." He once again had the elder gentleman's full attention. "Two things have to be solved as soon as possible really, but to put it into simple terms, one can be done by stopping one man in his tracks and the other by getting another guy to move his rear end."

Getting tired with all this talking the Third couldn't keep the sarcasm out of tone. "Are you going to give me more details than that? Or am I going to be left guessing?"

"Of course I am!" the boy snorted. "We need to get rid of Danzo."

The Hokage took a breath to say something, but Naruto cut him off.

"If you think he is causing problems now, just wait until what he gets up to later down the line, _if_ given the chance."

"I'm hoping you have something I can use then?" he asked the blonde, not realising that he was holding his breath.

Naruto pushed away from the desk, turned and grinned. "You betcha I do Gramps!" His features became smug. "How about the fact he is still doing his ROOT programme?" Sarutobi's shoulders jerked. "Oh and he is using war orphans as members." The Third's eyes narrowed. "And – you'll just love this – he has been working with Hanzo the Salamander."

Fumiko could almost hear the Hokage's teeth grind together.

"Is that enough for you?" Naruto asked cheerily.

"That's plenty." The Hokage replied.

"Oh and speaking of Hanzo the Salamander." Naruto said as if just remembering.

Sarutobi almost didn't want to know anymore, there was already enough to be getting on with, almost.

"You should get Pervy Sage to go check on the three kids he helped during the war."

Both Fumiko and Sarutobi looked at him quizzically.

"The Salamander guy is going to be causing them some serious trouble soon, if not already." Then as an afterthought he added. "You should probably have Kakashi or Itachi help him out."

It was no hard task for the older ninja to work out who Naruto had been referring to with 'Pervy Sage'.

The Third nodded, yet again deep in thought over this new information, _I really have my work cut out for me. _His shoulders slumped. _This boy never makes anything easy_, he thought with wry smile. "Well enough of these troublesome matters." He said with a wider smile to lighten to mood. "As long as you keep your ears and tail hidden Naruto, and not show too much knowledge and skill at the academy, or in public, you should be fine." He turned to Fumiko, who was now sitting cross-legged on top of the desk facing him and brushing her fingers through her tail. "You need to do the same-"

"That's easy." She piped happily. "I can do it without a jutsu." And with that her ears and tails were gone.

"Yes, I can see that, but we need to figure out what to do with you young lady."

"She can stay with me!" Naruto suggested enthusiastically with his fist in the air.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." The Hokage said and both children looked at him with matching enlarged eyes and pouting lips. _These two are going to be the end of me. _"You're apartment is a single bedroom Naruto and I doubt with having the memories of a grown woman Fumiko will want to sleep in the same bed.

Both of them went beetroot from their head to their toes.

"I thought as much." The old man chuckled. "The apartment next door to you is free though."

Naruto brightened and Fumiko quickly asked. "Can I really? Would that be okay?"

"Certainly." The delighted look on the girl's face was enough to brighten anyone's day. However, he put on a mock scowl and waved a finger at her. "There will be no question in you attending the academy though." He expected her to moan, not to lunge at him like she did and nearly hug him to death.

She loved learning and had sorely hated that she had not had the chance to go to some sort of school. "No excuses here!" she laughed.

He patted her head happily. "You'll be under the care of Konoha, just like Naruto, so you'll receive a monthly allowance to live on until you graduate, okay?"

"Okay." She replied, moving back to her previous cross-legged position on the desk. Naruto was sitting on the corner, facing away from the two, but his head was twisted back to grin at them.

"I'll have someone come by Naruto's apartment later with the key and your first allowance."

"I think we're done here." Naruto said as he hopped off the desk. He was near the door when he noticed Fumiko's hesitation. He looked confused for a moment before realisation dawned. "Oh yeah! Hey Gramps?"

"What Naruto?" the Hokage asked with mock scorn.

"Would it be alright if we made a memorial for Fumiko's parents?"

The elder's face took on a very soft and kind expression as he looked to the fidgeting girl. "Of course." He said gently.

"Thank You." Fumiko bowed her head in thanks and followed Naruto out the door with tears in her eyes. This life was going to be much better, she was going to make sure of that, and was determined to have some damn fun doing it.

When he was sure they were gone, Sarutobi called for his assistant and asked her to summon Kakashi and Itachi. He gave his temples a brief rub. _We've got a lot of work to do._

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They didn't have to wait long before there was a knock on Naruto's door. With Fumiko close behind him, Naruto opened it to see an ANBU-masked Kakashi. He was going to yell out a happy greeting, but in the small time they had been alone in his home, the two of them had agreed that it was best to treat the people that were supposed to be strangers at this point in time, as such. So instead he kept his face blank of all emotion, as he remembered all too well how to do from his previous childhood, and looked up at the man that had been his friend and teacher.

Keeping his voice suspiciously monotone, Kakashi said "The Hokage asked for these to be brought here." He handed Naruto a small pouch, a slightly larger one and a door key.

The blonde nodded as he took them and passed them back to his friend. "Here ya go Fumiko! These are obviously for you."

"Thanks." She smiled and took them from him; deliberately avoiding the questioning glance directed her way from the door. He may have been wearing a mask, but that didn't stop her from feeling his look.

"Have fun." Kakashi said then vanished in a puff of smoke before Naruto had the chance to look confused.

Fumiko dashed past him.

"What you doing?"

"What do you think?" she asked incredulously, putting her new key in the door and giving it a sharp click to the side.

The apartment was bare, very dusty and had cobwebs everywhere. _Great!_ Fumiko thought. _I _hate_ spiders! _She coughed. _And dust!_

_Wow, _thought Naruto. _This place looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years!_

**So, nearly as bad as your place?**

_Shut up!_

"Okay!" Fumiko coughed. "Back to your apartment for a plan of action!"

**Why do I suddenly feel scared?**

_You and me both._

After re-locking her 'new' apartment, they went back into Naruto's and sat down at his kitchen table. On inspection of the two pouches they found the small one held the same amount of money Naruto received each month and the larger one held a bigger sum of money, along with a note with what the blonde recognised as the Old Man's handwriting.

It read:

"_Something to get you started as you're going to need a few things."_

_Not half!_ Fumiko thought exasperated.

"How about we at least try to get it clean tonight and you can crash at mine?" her friend suggested, frowning at the fading daylight.

"Yeah..." she agreed. "But don't you get any ideas, got it?" her eyes held that dangerous look again.

He nodded repeatedly.

**Drat!**

"Good. Well the cleaning should be easy."

"How so?"

She got a surprised look. "Oh yeah. You haven't seen me fight have you?"

_Where's she going with this? _Naruto was perplexed.

**I think I might have an idea. **Kyuubi admitted.

_Are you going to tell me?_

**Nope.**

Naruto inwardly growled.

Fumiko had paused in her explanation at the look in his eyes, now aware that the glazed look in his eyes was the sign that he was talking to Kyuubi. With the look gone she continued.

"Well, unlike you and your fellow ninja, I had to teach myself how to fight and discovered a couple of hereditary quirks in the process."

"Like your blue fire? I don't see how that will help us, unless you plan in burning the flat down and starting from scratch?"

She hit him upside the head. "No moron! I have control over three things. Fire, light and, most importantly right now, water."

Naruto grinned, too much.

**You've got no chance Kit.**

_I can try!_

Fumiko groaned. _I know him too well already. _"No Naruto. Your apartment. Your mess. Your responsibility."

He deployed the big-eye-pout.

"Not gonna work on me." She scolded.

"I'll buy you ramen for dinner tonight."

**I underestimated you.**

"DEAL!"

**You do realise she eats as much of that stuff as you do, right?**

He went pale. _Ah shit. _He looked at his very dirty apartment and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. _It's worth it I guess..._

Within half an hour they found themselves at Ichiraku's and onto their second bowl each, after Fumiko had been re-introduced to the father and daughter cooks, which had felt very weird.

Naruto was still in shock. She hadn't been kidding about the water. She had barely sent out a small wave through the air, washing over the dirty surfaces and appliances and it picked up all the dirt and grime, taking it with it and breaking it down before the water was dumped in the sink or bathtub. He had quickly opened the bedroom window as she incinerated the moth-eaten mattress that had been lying on the floor at a click of her fingers.

"Remind me never to truly piss you off in future." The disturbed boy had commented with a nervous laugh.

**Just wait until she learns ninja skills at the academy.**

Naruto cringed.

His home had received the same treatment but the only fabrics she washed was his bed clothes, remarking that it was up to him to do his own laundry, before nearly collapsing. Once she had caught her breath a little and admitted, at his insistence, that using her elemental abilities in so many different ways and strengths at the same time put her to near exhaustion so she rarely did it. At her confession Naruto had severely told her off, taking advantage that she was too tired to yell back or hit him, and asked her to never push herself to such an extent unless it was of the utmost importance. He had tried to get her to go to bed there and then, but she laughed it off saying that he wasn't getting out of their deal so easily.

So there they were with Fumiko now on her fourth bowl and he finishing his fifth.

Their attempts at paying were waved off as a celebration of making a new friend and after exchanging some happy 'thank you's and 'goodnight's, they went on their way. They barely made it through the door and to the bed before they collapsed into a sound and blissful sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks agian soooooo much to everyone that reviewed or faved this story so far!

Here's the next chap for y'all

Remember and review!

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Chapter 5

They sat on the bench to the side of the play park happily eating the ice-cream Naruto had been forced to buy as an apology. It was his fault that Fumiko had been scared out of her wits and jumped back far enough to hit her mid-back on the edge of her new kitchen table.

:Flashback:

She had just finished folding away her new clothes and absently ran her fingers through her short side ponytail. It had been so long since she had ever actually 'lived' anywhere, so she was unsure how things were supposed to go. She looked around the bedroom. The room itself was a reversed mirror of Naruto's; along with the rest of the apartment, but that was where the similarities ended. Where his walls were slightly damp and the paint was peeling, her walls boasted a fresh coat of white paint, with the occasional light green wall here and there. She had managed to find mostly light, or white, furniture for her new home, but only bought the bare necessities.

Naruto had warned her about the way the villagers would glare at him, seen as he was back at square one, but she had still found it really unsettling with just how much animosity was fired in his direction when they were out shopping. It was after the second bout of duck and run that Naruto came up with the idea of Fumiko picking the items and paying for them before the blonde would suddenly appear to help carry them away at a fairly fast pace.

It was tiring, but she had everything she needed as far as she knew. She went through to the living area/kitchen to ask her whiskered friend if he thought there was anything she was missing, only to find the boy himself was missing. "Naruto...?" she asked the empty space and made her way to the door to see if he had gone next door. She had just got to the step in the entrance-way and heard faint banging noise coming from the wall separating the two apartments. Walking over, the sounds were strongest in the space on the far side of the kitchen units. There was a distinctly 'Naruto' yell, then dozens more identical to it, before the floor rumbled under Fumiko's feet and the section of wall exploded towards her in dust and rumble, hence her flying backwards in fright to avoid injury from the debris and instead got injured by the new table.

When the dust cleared, Fumiko found herself staring at 20 Naruto's at least. All of which were breathing heavily and grinning from ear to ear, the way only a fox can. It took her a few seconds to recover, but that was all she needed to realise that he had just destroyed her wall, _her_ wall in her first _home_ in years.

"NAMI!" she stormed over and pulled the first Naruto she reached up to eye-level by the collar, the tops of his feet still trailing on the floor as all the muscles in his body had frozen in place in fear of her tone. "What in the name of all that is Holy do you think you're doing?"

Before he had properly thought through speaking, he defended his actions. "I was tired of constantly going from my apartment to yours. I thought that if I was that fed up after one day God knows how annoying it would get later on." His true position had been given away by his outburst.

With a predatory snarl Fumiko dropped the now obvious clone and gracefully jumped over the rest of them to get to the now fleeing one-man-demolition-squad. She landed in front of him with her fists on her hips. "So you decided to knock down my wall?"

Naruto could have sworn that if she had been an Uchiha, he would be trying to put out black flames right now, with the way her stare bored into him. He gulped. "Look at it this way." He pleaded. "Apart from having two kitchens, it's just basically a two bedroom apartment now."

She paused in reaching for him, but still looked to need more convincing that he had indeed done a good thing. "We can use my kitchen, which – let's face it – is hardly functional, as one big living room. We get a big kitchen space – don't think I didn't notice you looking at the cookery books earlier – and a bathroom each!"

Her eyes widened at the last part. When she had been brought to Konoha and dragged to Ino's for a bath she had spent nearly three hours in the thing. _Three hours of total bliss..._ the fox girl remembered dreamily.

"Fine..." she relented.

"Woohoo!" was the collective yell of victory from the still present clones.

"But," she started sharply with a look at the clones, and they instantly stilled mid-movement, "You made the mess so you get to clean it up." She finished with a smile to the original Naruto, but he took careful note of the warning edge to her tone.

Oblivious to their boss's minor discomfort the clones renewed their cheers. The fox children just looked at each other and rolled their eyes in jest, all violence forgotten, before Naruto ordered his subordinates to clean up the mess. With so many on the job it was done in a matter of minutes and Fumiko went to look at the new 'doorway'.

"How did you get it to be such a neat shape?" she asked, confused at the perfect rectangle.

"I focused my wind chakra into thin lines to cut most of the gap first before I summoned the clones for the last push."

**That actually sounded quite logical.**

_Don't you ever have anything nice to say to me?_

**No, but her on the other hand – **

_Don't even go there! _Naruto warned.

**I can't**, Kyuubi pouted, **but eventually you will. **There was an echo of Kyuubi's sniggers.

Naruto nearly face-vaulted, but was luckily distracted and brought back to reality by Fumiko's voice.

"Oh. I suppose that makes sense, but you _are _fixing the paint on my wall and new archway and you are buying me lunch before we get groceries."

"What?" That had his attention. Poor Gama-chan was starting to look anorexic.

"If you had warned me about your extreme home-improvements I wouldn't have had the shit scared out of me and whacked my back off the table, so it's your fault it's aching." She clenched her jaw and did the pissed-off-hands-on-hips stance.

**She's one high maintenance girlfriend.**

_Can't you drop that for even 5 minutes?_

**Not when it's this fun.**

_I hate you..._

He could just feel the smug grin spread across Kyuubi's face.

Fumiko saw his pale face and chewed her bottom lip in guilt. She had seen how empty that cute frog purse had been. "Okay maybe not lunch, but at least an ice-cream cone."

"Now that I can manage!" Naruto had an urge for ice-cream almost as soon as the words had left her mouth, so it was a win-win situation in his eyes. He got to save money and satisfy a craving in one go.

"Good." She paused and fiddled with her hair.

"What's wrong?" the boy asked concerned.

"What does ice-cream actually taste like?" she slowly questioned in reply.

Naruto blinked. _She's never..._ His mind went blank before he gave himself a mental kick-start, crossed the distance between them, grabbed her hand and dragged her to the door. "Let's go get some now." He told her and flashed his famous fox-grin.

"Okay...but Naruto..."

"What?"

"Your shoes are at the other door."

:End Flashback:

She smiled for the hundredth time at the taste of her mint-choc-chip ice-cream and giggled when she looked to Naruto and saw he had chunk of raspberry ripple on his nose and was trying to reach it with his tongue, going cock-eyed with the effort.

He huffed in defeat and wiped it off with the index finger of his free hand and quickly popped into his mouth. Holding up the now clean finger he said, "Waste not, want not." Fumiko nodded in total agreement when it came to the wonder of ice-cream.

Naruto had just popped the last piece of his cone into mouth when he heard some kids running down the street towards the park. He looked in the direction of the childish laughter and puppy barks, and secretly smiled. He turned to ask Fumiko if she wanted to try and play with them, but her seat was empty. Movement caught his eye and he saw her on the swings, waving at him. He chuckled and went to join her. Both of them had decided to make the most of being kids again, to replace their painful memories with happy ones, and that included letting loose at playgrounds.

He had just given her a push when the others arrived. They had stopped laughing and were looking between himself and Fumiko, who looked at each other then the new arrivals and grinned a welcome.

The three walked over to the swings and there was a semi-awkward silence, but it was broken by a miniature Akamaru yipping at Fumiko.

"Oh my God! He is so cute." She exclaimed cheerfully and reached down to offer the puppy her hand to smell. After a couple of sniffs he proceeded to lick her hand, wagging his tiny tail madly. "Hello." She giggled.

"His name's Akamaru." Kiba told her with his canine smile and then jerked his thumb to his chest. "I'm Kiba. Kiba Inuzuka."

"Hi I'm Fumiko Akamori." She beamed her best smile. "Can I hold him?"

"Sure." Even if he hadn't agreed it wouldn't have stopped the white fluff ball from jumping onto her lap and have her small hands rub his ears.

"Are you all friends of Naruto's?" she asked knowing full well that at this stage they weren't, but the dynamic duo were going to fix that.

"We're just at the academy together." The one with the spiky ponytail, which she recognised as Shikamaru, answered. "I'm Shikamaru Nara, by the way, and that's Choji Akimichi." He nodded towards the chubby boy with the bag of crisps.

"Hello to both of you." She said politely. "But, shouldn't you always at least try to make friends with your classmates?"

Naruto had to bite his tongue to stop a smirk. He could see where she was going with this.

"I guess so."

"Ace!" she exclaimed. "How about we all play together?"

"I'm in!" Naruto said, joining her in her enthusiasm.

"Alright." Choji and Kiba said in unison, along with an affirmative bark from Fumiko's new furry friend.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed. "Count me in."

"How about tag?" Fumiko suggested, hoping she had kept her voice steady. Even before her parent's deaths she had watched other children play that game and wanted desperately to join in.

"Sounds good." Kiba nodded. "Naruto's first!"

"What?" the blonde gaped as everyone else took off running. With a bodily shake and a lop-sided grin he tore after them, and began a long afternoon of laughter and fun for everyone.

They were so involved in their fun that none of them noticed the arrival of two rather stunned fathers. They hadn't expected to find their children playing with an unfamiliar girl and the Kyuubi container.

"Shikamaru!" one of them called and the children stopped reluctantly to see who had shouted. "It's time for dinner."

"Troublesome." The boy sighed.

"Does he always say that?" Fumiko whispered to Choji, who nodded affirmative.

Shikamaru sighed again and made his way over to his father, followed by the rest of the pack. "Can't I stay a little longer?" he asked once he was in earshot.

"You really want to ask your mother that?" the elder Nara smirked, which grew in size at his son's wince.

"Troublesome."

The other man spoke up. "It's time for us to go too Choji."

"Okay..." he said reluctantly and followed when both his and Shikamaru's fathers turned towards their homes.

"Don't worry!" Naruto called out when they were a few metres away and the turned slightly to listen to him. "We'll all see each other at the academy tomorrow!"

The men raised their eyebrows at the containers words, but more so when they saw Shikamaru nod and Choji call back, "Yeah!" It was an odd sight to see their children becoming friends with the child almost everyone scorned, but they still found themselves smiling for some reason.

Once they were gone the remaining three children looked at one other.

"I think Akamaru and I should head back too. My mom can be scary if I get back too late."

"Ohhhh..." Fumiko whined, accompanied by a whine from Akamaru, who was currently on her shoulder.

Kiba laughed at them.

"Why don't we walk you home?" Naruto suggested and the faces of both girl and puppy lit up.

"That's fine with me." The boy said. "But..." he looked to Fumiko. "I thought girls weren't supposed to walk home in the dark.

"Don't worry." She beamed. "Whiskers here will walk me home."

"Yeah." The blonde agreed, but mock-scowled at the new nickname. "We live next door to each other.

"What about your parents?" Kiba asked Fumiko. "Aren't they going to get mad if you're late?"

The brunette shook her head. "I'm on my own." She said with sad eyes.

"No you're not!" Naruto butted in joyfully. "You have me!"

Fumiko laughed. Her sadness was forgotten yet again. "How could I forget that?"

"And you've got me and Akamaru now too, right buddy?" he questioned the puppy.

Akamaru barked in happy agreement.

"Okay." Naruto grinned. "Let's get you two home."

The four of them cheerfully set off for the Inuzuka residence. Once there they said their goodbyes to Kiba and Akamaru and, at the instance of Fumiko so that they had something for breakfast and lunch the next day, they headed to the closest grocery store that was still open before grabbing some ramen to go from Ichiraku's. This time however, Fumiko paid as she still had a decent amount of money left over from her 'apartment' fund.

"You nervous about your first day tomorrow?" Naruto asked her as they finished drying their dishes.

"You have no idea..." she told him softly. She was going to be completely out of her comfort zone, but it was an experience she had wished for so badly that she was willing to face anything to give it a try.

After Naruto told her as much as he could remember from his early days of the academy she figured she was only going to be as clueless as everyone else on a lot of things, so she didn't feel so bad. She also had planning pranks with Naruto to look forward to, she was half Fox Demon after all and they had to find some fun ways to get rid of the other teachers somehow so that Iruka would enter the picture.

She may have felt better, but it didn't stop her from going to bed with a knot in her stomach. She changed for bed and lowered herself to the floor – there was no way two kids could carry a bed frame up a load of stairs so she had settled for the traditional, roll out mattress – and snuggled under the fresh blankets. It was only the feeling of being safe since just before the last time she was this age that allowed her to drift off into sleep.

_Tomorrow is going to be a big day..._


	6. Chapter 6

All the ace reviews so far inspired me to write some more so here's the next chapter. Hehe =D

Keep the feedback coming please!

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Chapter 6

It was a quick lesson that they were going to need a better alarm system in the morning as they were now pelting down the streets with a slice of toast in their mouths and trying to pull bags over their heads.

"This is all your fault!" Fumiko accused.

"Hey! I'm not the one that had to make toast for breakfast."

"Well, as much as I love ramen I will not eat it for every single meal."

**No, she just eats enough for several normal meals when she does eat it.**

Naruto smirked.

"What are you smirking at!"

"Nothing!" an innocent look was slapped on his face. "Come on." He insisted and increased his pace.

_I wish jumping over the rooftops wouldn't blow our cover. _Fumiko gave a depressed sigh. They technically couldn't do a lot of the things they were used to until they were _taught_ it in the academy. With a further slump of the shoulders she too increased her speed.

It took a few more minutes, but they eventually made it. However, it was not without feeling completely drained. They may have retained all of their skills and knowledge, but their bodily strength was another thing entirely.

The last of the parents dropping off their children gave the pair a quizzical glance, which turned to disgust when they looked to Naruto. He just beamed at them, but Fumiko had learned to tell the difference between Naruto's real and forced smiles. With a couple of final pants, the duo headed indoors and towards the classroom. They were just about to open the sliding door when a high-pitched voice sounded behind them. They jumped for effect, but had both smelled the cheap perfume a mile off.

"You must be little Fumiko." She stressed the last syllable and crouched down to the girl's level. Her much too tight trousers creaked with the strain.

Both children wished she hadn't when they had to bite their tongues to not gag at the potent smell.

Unaware of her destruction of their senses, the teacher continued. "The Hokage told me I was getting a new student. Let's just hope you show more promise than certain others." She gave a tight smile at Fumiko's barely hidden scowl.

_I wonder who she could possibly be referring to..._ Naruto thought sarcastically.

Kyuubi laughed.

The teacher frowned at Naruto's vacant looked. "Naruto go inside and sit down. I need to have a chat with cute little Fumiko here."

He shrugged his shoulders and did as she asked, but not before grinning at his friend's 'don't you dare leave me alone with her' look. Upon entering the room he was called over by his 'new' friends and went to join them while he waited for class to start.

It was only a couple of minutes later that the teacher walked in and everyone, except Naruto, scrambled for a seat. He on the other hand put his hands behind his head and leisurely strolled to his usual vacant bench in the back row. Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji could barely hide their sniggers as the teachers heavily made-up face seemed to be trying to eat itself in frustration. After sitting down, with a carefully blank face, Naruto innocently asked the woman, "What?"

"Nothing..." she seethed through gritted teeth. She took a deep breath and addressed the entire room. "Now class we actually have a new student joining us." She looked to the door, as did everyone else. "Would you like to come in now dear?"

The door had been left open a crack and she could see the eyes of everyone were on the door. She gulped, steadied her nerves, opened the door and walked into the silent classroom. Movement caught her eye and she saw all three boys waving at her, she gave a cheerful smile in return, if only because they had somehow made the knot in her stomach much smaller. When she reached the very front and centre of the room she stopped to face her new classmates, just as she had been instructed. Her eyes sought out Naruto and found him at the back right of the class with both of the other seats at the bench, one to either side, were untaken. Apart from those, the only other free seat was right at the front.

She jumped at an interruption to her thoughts.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" the woman asked, her eyebrow twitching in impatience.

"Oh!" Fumiko mentally scolded herself for getting distracted. She looked to her classmates. "I'm Fumiko Akamori." With straight arms she clasped her hands in front. "It's nice to meet all of you." She bowed.

"Nicely done." The 'fragrant' lady commented. "Now if would like to take the seat at the-"

"Okay!" Fumiko chirped, cutting her off, and dashed to the seat to Naruto's right. The smile she gave the stunned teacher was utterly innocent and was all the surprised students saw, but the teacher caught the look in Fumiko's eyes. The girl was daring her to ask her to move.

With a huff the woman turned to the task of teaching.

"That was great!" Naruto whispered and grinned at the double thumbs up he was receiving from his friends a couple benches over, they knew that the teachers tried to keep all the students away from him, but it was wiped from his face when he saw her expression as the teacher turned to the chalkboard on the wall.

Fumiko was furious.

"Hey-"

"I'll tell you later." She said quickly before apparently swallowing her fury with a large gulp.

"Okay..." was all the blonde said before they both focused on what was being said.

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It was during the morning break that had three boys and one dog share a curious look at the small echo of Naruto's curse and punch of a wall. They rounded the corner of the building to find Naruto with his fist still against the wall, with his head hanging low, and Fumiko with a worried look on her face and a hand on his shoulder. The group approached them.

"What's up?" Shikamaru enquired.

Fumiko opened her mouth, but Naruto answered. "Damn teacher bad mouthed me to Fumiko before she came in the class and told her point blank to avoid me at all costs."

All three boys frowned in disapproval and Akamaru gave a fairly menacing growl.

Naruto lifted his head and turned to lean against the wall, giving them a small grateful smile.

"Ahhhh!" Kiba gave a frustrated cry. "I just don't get what most people have against you." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"You mean besides the poor marks and constant pranks?" the Nara questioned.

"Well yeah. Sure his grades aren't the best, but they're hardly worse than the rest of us, and with the pranks he just needs to work on not getting caught because they are hilarious."

That got a grin out of the blonde.

Fumiko clasped her hands behind her back in a playful stance and her eyes took on a mischievous glint. "I think his performance on both accounts can be improved with a little help from us."

Akamaru barked while Kiba and Choji gave evil grins. They understood her meaning perfectly. Shikamaru gave his trademark "Troublesome", but this one was accompanied by a secret smile.

The plotting however was put on hold when Ino shot around the corner. "There you are Fumiko!"

"Huh?" was the unanimous question of the group of friends.

"The boys and girls split classes until lunch after break." She explained as she latched onto the other girl's hand smiling, ignoring how the brunette had visibly paled. Naruto hadn't warned her about this. She twisted her head round to look back at him as she was dragged away. He had a guilty look on his face as he waved farewell. _That sneaky git! _She mentally fumed. _He didn't tell me on purpose! Just what the hell I'm I going to learn in these classes?_

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It was lunchtime and she flatly refused to give in to Naruto's apologetic smiles and glances. Even the borderline fake tears failed to move her.

She turned her back on him once more and smiled at Hinata. They had spent the majority of the previous class together and they got along very well. Sure the girl had been really shy to begin with, but after a while they had both loosened up and become fast friends. Hinata's stutter had even vanished by the time to lunch bell rang.

"Is something going on between you and Naruto?" Hinata asked her.

"What makes you say that?" Fumiko said feigning ignorance.

"Don't give me that." The Hyuuga countered, pointing her chopsticks at her. "You were both fine this morning and now you're avoiding him." She accused her new friend, but blushed when she saw the boy in question look at her.

"I'm just annoyed that he didn't warn me about the separate classes and obviously lied when he said that he'd be there for me all day."

"Oh." Hinata blushed again. "You two seem pretty close."

Fumiko caught the disappointment in her voice. "I've only known him just over a week." She smiled at Hinata's surprised expression. "He's just a really easy person to get to know and it helps that we live next door to each other."

"You live next door to him!" Hinata's shock was priceless.

"Jealous..." Fumiko teased and playfully elbowed spluttering girl.

"Who's jealous?" both girls nearly flew into the air at the new voice.

"H-hello Naruto."

"Hey Hinata. So, who's jealous?"

"Oh Hinata's just – Whao!" The blushing furiously girl had just dive-bombed her green-eyed friend and clamped her hands over her mouth. However she could still see the devilish grin on Fumiko's face under her hands.

"Okay..." Naruto said confused.

With a warning glare Hinata allowed Fumiko to breathe once again and set about devouring her lunch.

Naruto blinked at her then turned to Fumiko. "I'm really, really sorry." He pouted, but at least he sounded genuine.

"Hm." Was his only reply.

"If it makes you feel better I'll let you both in on our plans for the Teach."

Hinata looked confused, but Fumiko instantly caught on and brightened immensely.

"Do tell." She urged with glee written all over her face.

Naruto smirked and went into details. When he was done even Hinata was smirking. She too didn't like it when people treated Naruto unfairly.

"Love it!" Fumiko praised and the words had barely left her mouth when the bell rang and they all made their way inside.

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The annoying woman had prattled on for half and our before she instructed the class to read their books and sat down at the teacher's desk to the side of the room. Naruto exchanged glances with his fellow criminals. They all nodded and smirked.

Fumiko saw the transfer of looks and knew it was show time, so timing it to when the witch wasn't looking she leaned over the desk and poked Hinata in the back. The girl flinched and looked back. At the two foxy grins she got a small smirk and turned her attention to the teacher.

At the moment she was fixing her make-up, which a chuunin really shouldn't care that much about at work, but along with her ghastly pink compact she had also taken out of the bag at her feet a small, perfume bottle that she had sat on the desk to use next. It was made of clear glass and was plain except for the miniature balloon spray nozzle attached to the top. Inside was a pale yellow liquid everyone recognised as the cheapest version of perfume available in the stores.

With a soft click she closed the compact and Akamaru hid beneath Kiba's t-shirt. She picked up the bottle and failed to notice the six students leaning forward a tiny fraction. Raising it to her neck, she tilted her chin up, pinched the tiny balloon with her thumb and index finger and squeezed, twice. She then repeated the action as she moved it down the front of her body.

She smiled in satisfaction at first but it soon turned to a puzzled frown.

The friends held their breath, which was half in anticipation, and half to stop the scent from entering their noses.

The witch sniffed, as did the majority of the students by this point – including Naruto and company to hide their guilt – before her eyes went wide in sheer horror. She started to tremble.

The boy sitting closest to her screwed up his face. "Eeeewww!" he cried out. "You stink of piss!"

At this something in the very vain ninja snapped. She leapt out if her seat with strangled scream and proceeded to frantically rub her hands against her upper body as if trying to swat the stench off. That, along with her high pitched squeals of "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" over and over again, had the entire class in absolute kinks as they howled with laughter. Both Kiba and Naruto fell off their seats and even the reclusive Sasuke had to clamp his hands over his mouth to hold back his amusement, without much success.

At all the commotion the chuunin from the class next door came to find out what was going on, sneakily followed by three of his students. He stood there with eyes round as saucers and jaw hanging open. Of the three students, the girl with twin buns on her head and the boy with giant eyebrows were having trouble containing their own mirth, but the boy with same eyes as Hinata was more successful, if only a little. In the end he was half grinning and half trying to devour his bottom lip.

It was at the sounds of his own students that the male chuunin straightened up – just before the woman lunged at him screaming "Save me!"

She basically flattened him with the force of her jump to freedom, effectively knocking him out. When a panicked glance down told her the savoir was out of it, she simply took off running.

Back in the classroom the fox-friends high-fived at the pranks success.

"Well, that's one down!" counted a gleeful Naruto.

"Poor Akamaru is traumatised." Fumiko giggled when she looked at the puppy, whose head was only just poking out of the neck of Kiba's t-shirt.

"It's fine." Naruto reassured. "He willingly donated."


	7. Chapter 7

Well here's the next chapter. Sorry for the slight delay... :-(

Loving all the feedback! Keep the reviews coming!

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Chapter 7

The two time-travellers gradually fell into their new way of life over the next couple of months. They set up 'their apartment' the way Naruto had suggested and had used what remained of the extra money from the third to do so. Fumiko shut off the water supply to Naruto's kitchen sink by basically melting the pipe closed when they demolished the units and battered old table. They had then filled the space with a fairly decent couch and matching chair for what they could afford, along with a small coffee table, but they had been forced to use their double-team tactic to buy them. They had then employed the services of their friends, including Ino, Sakura and Sasuke, to help carry everything back.

The others had been shocked to find how the pair had 'adapted' the place, but when given the reasoning behind it they understood. When it was raining outside and they couldn't play, they all ended up at Naruto and Fumiko's, treating it like a deluxe club house because there was no adults about. Their company wasn't minded in the least. However, when they weren't there Naruto passionately took up the studying of seals – usually blackmailing the Third for research materials – or found himself finally learning how to cook along with Fumiko from self-help books and magazines.

Fumiko had also taken up a rather odd hobby in Naruto's view. When he had smashed his alarm clock one morning and brought it through to the kitchen to throw it out she had stopped him and inspected all the cogs, nuts and bolts. Two days later she gave him back the clock, in perfect working order. After that she had become slightly obsessed with the inner workings of technology, bought a small tool set and had taken apart – and put back together – everything she could find. She even fixed his fridge. They had kept it just in case but moved it through to the new kitchen when decorating. It was this talent that had earned her – and Naruto through her – the friendship of Sasuke.

He had come into the class with red eyes and a sad frown, but no one could get him to tell what had upset him so much until Fumiko, investigating the sounds of someone crying, happened upon him weeping. She had asked what was the matter peering over his shoulder to see he was clutching a watch, but its hands weren't turning and there was water under the glass. When she enquired if it was the state of the time piece that was upsetting him he had sniffled out how his big brother had bought it for him a couple of days ago but he had dropped it in a puddle that morning on the way to the academy. Seizing her chance to make friends with him, she offered to fix it and told him of her fixing a smashed alarm clock. However, being the tricky vixen she was fast becoming she asked him to pick it up at the apartment, but was conveniently 'out' and left Naruto to hand it over – without warning him about their guest beforehand.

The idiot had been trying to change a light bulb sitting on the shoulders of several clones and had been concentrating so hard he actually got a fright at the knock on the door and unconsciously dispelled the clones, while still near the ceiling. Sasuke had barged in at the crash and found Naruto rolling on the floor cradling his head.

Ino and Sakura were quick to add to the fold when Fumiko constantly needed their help and advice in the 'girls' classes. Shino had only just been converted when Naruto got himself beaten up trying to defend Shino, and more importantly his bugs, from some bullies. However, he was now just as much a regular visitor as the rest of them.

It was now October 1st and was a rare, quiet day off from the academy. Everyone reluctantly had other plans so the two of them just engrossed themselves in what they found most interesting. Naruto was reading his newest book on seals on the sofa and Fumiko was at the kitchen table in the middle of dismantling a pair of binoculars, having just finished doing so to a ninja wireless before putting it back together, neither of which Naruto dared asked where they had come from. When she was finished with them they would vanish anyway.

There came a knock at Naruto's door.

The boy leaned his head back so he could look through the archway at Fumiko. She just as surprised as he was. Neither was expecting company.

"Who is it?" Naruto called out. There had been three explosive tags put between his door and door frame to ignite upon opening in just as many days. Their friends had learned to knock then quickly announce who was there.

There was a short pause. "ANBU."

_That was Kakashi's voice_, Naruto told himself for no real reason and sniffed. _Yip definitely him._ He grinned. Slipping the book under the couch cushion, he couldn't be caught reading something that advanced, and motioned for Fumiko to stay quiet.

They got their allowances on the first of every month, so the silver-haired ninja must have been given the task of taking it to them this time. Making sure to shuffle his feet, Naruto crossed the room to the door, opened it and – feigning surprise – greeting the ninja. "You're that same guy from before."

Kakashi nodded. "Here." He held out the usual pouch. "The Hokage wants to see you."

"Thanks." He took the pouch. "What about Fumiko?"

The ANBU tilted his head to show his confusion, but answered anyway. "Her too. I just need to hand over her allowance." He made to back away and move to the other door.

"Well hand it over then." Fumiko chuckled as she walked through from the other room.

Kakashi just froze then pointed at her. "How'd you do that?"

"What? Walk? It's quite easy really-"

The ninja sweatdropped. "No, walk through the wall."

"What wall?" Naruto asked trying to hold up his confused mask as Kakashi studied him.

"Excuse me." He exhaled and entered their home far enough to notice the total change in decor and a door sized hole where there should of been a wall. "How'd you two manage this?"

"Two hammers." Fumiko started.

"And a lot of time." Naruto finished their rehearsed cover story.

"Mmm..." Kakashi was unconvinced, but he admitted to himself that it seemed to be a change for the good if his subtle observations of Naruto's behaviour and mood over the past couple of months was anything to go by. He adjusted his dog mask. "You had better start heading over to the Third's office."

With a small gust of wind he was gone.

"Come on." Naruto told her.

"I'll just get my shoes."

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"Good morning you two!" Sarutobi greeted warmly when they entered his office.

"Morning Gramps!" they chorused.

He flinched. _He's already contaminated her politeness! _He wailed inside his head.

"Sit down. This might take a while."

He knew he should have expected as much when they both bounced onto the edge of the desk on his side and left his pile of paperwork in-between them.

"I thought you might like an update."

All forms of jest were suddenly out the window.

The discussion went on for a couple of hours.

Jiraiya had already been contacted and deployed to deal with Hanzo the salamander, along with the aid of Itachi and Kakashi, and had decided to stay behind for a while to help the three now grown children from the war take over leadership of their land. Naruto had been a little disappointed that his godfather was going to be away for longer, but he knew it was for the best.

Itachi was also making good progress with planting the seeds of civil war within his clan. The Third remarked that he had actually seemed pleased with 'his' plan and had no qualms about carrying his orders out. Mikoto Uchiha, Itachi and Sasuke's mother, had also been uncharacteristically chipper when she spoke to him last.

Danzo, however, had been proving difficult to obtain any evidence on. They were getting there bit by bit, but it was going to be a slow process. That was the concluding issue of the meeting and it left Naruto in a sour mood. He went to leave and Fumiko told him to go on ahead and she would catch up. There were a few things she wanted to ask the Hokage alone.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and did ask she asked.

As soon as he was gone and out of earshot, Fumiko rounded on the old man. "First, have you got any books or scrolls on ninja technology or pieces of technological equipment?"

"I should have somewhere. May I ask why?"

"It's kinda my new hobby. I just love the stuff."

"Okay." He chuckled and moved to his less used bookcase. "What was the second thing you wanted to ask of me?" he put to her as he searched the shelves.

"A favour."

"Oh." He didn't even pause.

"It's Naruto's birthday next week and we all decided to pitch in and have a birthday party for him."

"We?"

"Oh! All of our friends and myself."

"Ah yes...I heard of your ever increasing social circle." He turned back to her for a moment to wink.

She giggled. "Yeah, well Naruto was telling me about how you always take him out for ramen on his birthday before walking him back to the apartment so..."

"So you wanted me do it again this year, even thought I was going to anyway, as a distraction from the real celebration?"

"Exactly!" she was grinning like a fox when he gave his word to play his part. "If you don't have to leave straight away, why don't you join us? The more the merrier."

"I'll see what I can do." _She might have the memories of an adult, but she certainly is cherishing being a child and I don't blame her in the slightest. Actually, I may even be envious of the pair of them_. He smiled at his childish thought and walked back over to the desk, handing her a scroll.

She took it hesitantly.

"It's a storage scroll." He told her and understanding entered her features. "I've put what you've requested in there, along with a couple Naruto might like. He'll show you how to use it. I'll request some advanced books from the library. Two young children requesting such things would raise questions."

"Thank you!" she hugged again in thanks, it was becoming a habit.

Sarutobi felt himself go all mushy. "On you go now." He softly chided. "Naruto will be waiting."

"Hehe." She ran to the door. "Bye." she waved and headed out to catch up with the stewing blonde.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi! Sooooo sorry for the late-ness of the update so posted 3 chapters as an apology. Been very busy, but should be back on track.

Please R&R and I hope my story continues to bring laughter.

ENJOY!

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Chapter 8

Sarutobi physically twitched and tightened his grip on his wallet in despair. Sure Naruto was right when he said he was a growing boy and needed to fuel his growth, but that had been on his 7th bowl and the bottomless pit was now on his 12th – with no sigh of stopping.

"Is anything bothering you Naruto?" the soon-to-be-broke man asked in the hope that the child was comfort eating and could be halted if cheered up.

"Nope." He replied between mouthfuls a tad too sharply.

"Yes there is. Now what is it?" _please don't let him order another bowl!_ He pleaded to anyone who could be listening.

"It's – it's just that – well...it's my birthday and the only person who seems to want to celebrate it is you Old Man!"

"Oh?" the Third tried to sound aloof, highly doubting he had managed it, but Naruto continued his rant so he must have.

"Everyone else is either shopping, or cloud watching, or researching new bugs or taking a camera apart for the thousandth time!" he nearly yelled the last part then dove straight back into his noodles. Even after all this time he was still paranoid that people wanted to avoid him.

The Hokage grabbed the chance to cease the onslaught to his bank account. "Why don't I pay for our lunch and we can go back and see if Fumiko is finished?"

Naruto looked thoughtful, but needed more motivation.

"If she is we could ask her to join us for ice-cream?"

That sealed the deal and the birthday boy had drained his bowl and hopped off the stool faster than Sarutobi could blink.

"Hurry it up Gramps!" he called, already heading down the street.

The Hokage chuckled and started after him.

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Amongst the rush of final preparations Fumiko looked to the frog clock above the kitchen units. _Shit! He's going to be here in a few minutes and will smell the cake from a mile off! I need to cover the smell! _Frantic, she looked for something to solve her dilemma. Her eyes reluctantly fell on one of the kitchen cupboards. _Oh well...I guess sacrifices must be made..._ She rushed to the cupboard and pulled out 3 cups of instant ramen and switched on the kettle. After her latest upgrade it could boil a full load of water in 10 seconds. Really handy when time was of the essence.

It finished boiling and the cups were filled. "Ino!" she caught her friend's attention. "Here! Take this and put it on the floor near Naruto's front door." She instructed.

"What-"She took the ramen, but hesitated a moment. "You're gonna prank Naruto on his birthday?"

"No!" Fumiko held up her free hand in her defence. "Just trust me that without doing this he won't be surprised that we're all here."

With doubt and confusion Ino set about her new task. She had barely re-entered the kitchen when Shino hissed in a harsh whisper, "He's coming!", and everyone dashed to their hiding places. He had thoughtfully offered to have a bug placed at the beginning of the street and have it return at the first sign of Naruto, thus warning them of his approach.

Some hushing sounds were issued and silence fell inside the apartment. Outside was a different matter, what with Naruto's approaching, constant natter.

"Do you know where sells the best mint-choc-chip? If we say we're going there she'll definitely come! It's her favourite. I ate the last of the cinnamon bagels she made and she was about to go nuts, until she spotted I had replaced it with ice-cream. It was like the memory of the bagels even being made was erased! It was awesome!"

_I'll beat him senseless_. A glance around the room told her all of her friends had also heard the story and were trying their best to swallow their amusement and keep their presence hidden. _In fact I'll just kill him...or make him buy me ice-cream every week for the next few years. _She smirked. _That's a much better idea..._

Naruto reached Fumiko's door and knocked. He guessed she was having lunch, he could smell instant ramen.

"Come in!" Fumiko's voice called from within. "I can't make it to the door just now."

The Hokage quirked an eyebrow at Naruto. Who just shrugged and opened the door. He took off his shoes at the door and a couple of steps inside. The blonde rounded the corner that opened up the rest of the kitchen and...

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the shouts were deafening.

Naruto just stood there stunned, numb, as he looked at the smiling faces of all his friends. He had never had a birthday party. There had either never been the time, or the friends to celebrate with, but here he was, standing in an apartment covered in decorations and filled with edible goodies and all the people he could openly call precious to him. Whether it was the overwhelming happiness and love he felt or the effect of being an emotional child again, his eyes flooded and overflowed with tears and he gave a smile that rivalled the sun itself.

Even Kyuubi felt the boy's heart swell and was content to keep quiet and let him enjoy the emotions he had long deserved.

The silence that had descended was broken.

"Well Dope? Are you going to join _your_ party or not?"

Everyone laughed then playfully screamed when the tearful Naruto ran and jumped at the group, pulling several into one giant hug. "Thank you so much guys!" he laughed before all hell broke loose and the party began.

It was eventful to say the least.

A few minutes after it had started Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku arrived and admitted they had been included in the planning. Games were played and fun was had.

Hinata cornered Kiba in Blind Man's Bluff and 'accidentally' kissed him on the cheek. The fact that Naruto knocked Shikamaru into the girl's back, thus knocking her forward, and sharing a thumbs up with Fumiko had nothing to do it. Hinata had whipped off the blindfold and after seeing the flushed Inuzuka promptly feinted, right on top of him.

Choji was forever being tackled to keep him away from the food table after he had consumed half of it on his own. His repeated assaults on the edible delights were brought to an end though once he found himself on the floor, on his back and a snarling Fumiko was crouched on his chest, looking positively feral, after he had made a move for her ice-cream. Naruto had sweatdropped and laughed nervously while everyone else, including the adults, made a silent vow to never come between the brunette and her cherished frozen dessert. The traumatised boy even only had two pieces of cake when it was brought out of the fridge, and ended up looking around frantically in fear whenever someone mentioned ice-cream for about 12 weeks afterwards.

Sarutobi made the mistake of having his back turned and talking to Teuchi while Ayame and the children played Pin the Tail on the Donkey. It was Shikamaru's turn. Naruto put his hand to his mouth and whispered into Sasuke's ear before they shared devilish grins and Naruto went to spin Shikamaru around before he could be given directions to the donkey. As he was doing so, Sasuke spread the plan between the rest of them, each agreeing to the idea quite happily, even Ayame. Naruto finished Shikamaru's spins and the group began calling directions.

"Forward."

"Forward."

"Left."

"Up."

"Up a bit more."

"Back to the right a little."

"The walls are rather tough, so you'll have to fire it in."

"Wait! There!"

"Yeah right there."

With as much force as his young arms could, Shikamaru rammed the pinned tail into the receiving ass. It just wasn't the right ass.

The Third howled and sprang into the air, both hands going to his new 'tail'.

Poor Shikamaru jumped back in fear and pulled the blindfold down. Realisation of what he had done hit him and terror froze his features. His 'friends' were rolling on the floor by the time the Hokage had pulled the pin out and was vigorously rubbing his abused rear. With a roar the aging ninja spun on the trembling Shikamaru and lunged. The imminent danger awoke his senses and he ran for his life screaming that the others were the ones telling him where to go. This didn't stop the chase, just increased the number of runners. Ayame took shelter behind her father, who was still choking on his drink.

In the duration of the pursuit, they had all ran through to the living room – Sarutobi had just shook his head in disbelief of what the pair had done to the place when he picked Naruto up that morning – and Naruto had laid eyes on the pile of presents heaped onto the small coffee table. His pause in movement got him caught though and he was swiftly given a lump on the head. When the other 10 lumps were dealt out, even Akamaru got one, everyone settled down in the living room to watch the Birthday Boy open his presents.

He was given 3 all-you-can-eat ramen vouchers for Ichiraku Ramen and the Hokage smirked that they would never have enough ingredients to live up to that promise, to which everyone laughed and Naruto puffed out his cheeks with a childish huff.

The food idea was continued by Choji who gave 7 pots of Naruto's favourite brand of instant ramen, one of every flavour.

Shikamaru gave him some blank scrolls and a couple bottles of ink, "To help study and fill that empty head of yours."

Ino and Sakura had pitched in together and bought him a new bag for his academy supplies. Luckily he liked it as, unknown to him, the four girls had already raided his room and thrown away the old one.

Shino, Kiba, Sasuke and Hinata hadn't had many ideas so they too had gone in together to buy Naruto some practise shurinkin and kunai as they were all going to be starting to learn those skills shortly.

Sarutobi reached into his robe and pulled out a brightly wrapped cylinder. He handed over his present.

"But Lord Hokage, there is a box labelled from you right here." Sakura spoke up and held out the orange pouch.

"This is just a little extra something." He quickly told her, sounding like he was trying to cover something up.

Naruto gave him an enquiring look, but the Third just smiled blankly back.

Taking the pouch carefully from Sakura, the blonde pulled the drawstring and revealed its contents – just over a month and a halves worth of allowance. He shot a surprised look to Sarutobi.

"The allowance isn't very much so I thought I would give you a little extra so you could buy something you wanted rather than needed."

"Thanks Gramps!" Naruto turned his attention back to the cylinder and tore it open with relish. It was a scroll. He opened it out a little and found it was a storage scroll filled with information resources on sealing and advance jutsus. When others leaned over to see what it was he casually rolled it back up and said it was an I OWE U for lunch sometime.

The Hokage put his hand to his face and coughed to hide his smile at the boy's flawless acting.

All that was left was Fumiko's gift. He opened the small cardboard box and reached inside. His eyes went wide and he smiled when he took out a pair of goggles that looked exactly like the ones he had worn before becoming a genin. There was also a very small camera with a small fox etched onto the back. He grinned at her, already imagining several situations where the device would come in handy.

The candles of the cake were lit and 'Happy Birthday' was sung. The candles were blown out and Naruto was covered in Silly String from the cans everyone had hidden behind their backs, one in each hand in the Hokage's case wanting some payback.

When all that was left of the cake was some icing on a huge plate it was getting late and parents were arriving at the door in search of their overdue children. They were all surprised to see the Hokage there and after giving their gratitude to their leader for 'supervising' their young they lead, or carried in some cases, the worn out visitors home. Sarutobi was the last to leave. When the door shut he went to the roof to speak to Kakashi, who was sitting reading his favourite book.

"Sounded like one hell of a party."

"Indeed." The Third chuckled.

"Although, with luck, you will be able to be present for the next one?" the older man mused.

"Yip and be able to start giving Naruto my presents myself."

"As long as your successful, that day will come." He nodded. "Now I have a mountain of paperwork waiting for me." He said and left in a swirl of wind and leaves.

"Happy Birthday Naruto." Kakashi said softly and followed the Hokage's example.

Inside sat two pairs of perked fox ears.

"So which present was from Gramps?" Fumiko pondered.

"Dunno."

"Oh!" his companion squeaked. "I couldn't say so in front of everyone just in case they thought I was weird, but I kind of upgraded those goggles to switch between night vision and binoculars. I hope they're the right ones."

"Really? They can do that?"

She nodded.

"COOL!" he ran back through to the living room and grabbed the goggles, putting them on and looking out the window. "How do you switch it?"

"Twist the lenses." She told him as she started to clean up.

He did so and yelped in delight. "This is great!"

"You didn't say if they were same ones."

"Yeah they are." He took them off, turned to her and with a heartfelt tone said, "Thank you Fumi."

She giggled at the new nickname. "You're welcome. Now come help me clean this place up."

"Can't we just do it tomorrow?" he whined.

"No!" she laughed and launched a dish-towel at him. "Now get started with the dishes. I'll get the rubbish."

**She so owns your ass!** Kyuubi mocked.

_Leave me alone..._ Naruto fake-sniffled in his head and Kyuubi chuckled.


	9. Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

Iruka had seen many things over the years, but the majority of it had only been in his two years so far at the academy. Many of these occurrences consisted of seeing the traumatised, infuriated or injured teachers of a certain class. The staff had long since started taking bets on how long each new challenger would survive. The average stood at three days. One had managed to last three months, but only because he would write the information and tasks on the bored and leave the class to it, bringing hell down upon anyone who had not done as asked by the end of the day. The young teacher smirked at the ninja's demise. He had somehow been landed in the middle of the woman's hot springs with nothing but a yellow, duck rubber ring to cover his lower-regions.

With his feet on his desk, the young ninja teacher sipped his tea – he refused to drink coffee like the rest of them – and continued his musings. He was clueless to the 7-year-old Naruto looking in the staff room window, and to the fact that the blonde was recalling the exact same events. Although to him he was remembering some of the victories for both he and his allies.

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Operation Fly-trap:

Thinking it would be an easy way to bring in some extra cash, the old man had agreed to come out of retirement. He soon wished he had never even considered taking the job.

Hinata, who had been excused to go to the girl's bathroom, returned to the class and informed the teacher that the head master wanted to see him.

"Who told you this?" he asked at Hinata's fidgeting hands.

"Another teacher Sir." She wasn't lying per say, she had just withheld when she had been told to inform him, and the one who had was the very same person 'teaching' her how to act more confident around others.

"Alright." He gruffly acknowledged. "Get back to your seat and all of you keep on with your work silently until I get back." He ordered and left the classroom.

As soon as the coast was clear, everyone started to chat amongst themselves, their work left forgotten on the desks. Naruto and Sasuke however took a tin of non-scented superglue from their bags and set to work on the teacher's desk. With wide brushes they had covered the teacher's side and entire top of it in the high-tack liquid. As soon as they were done they rammed the lids back on the cans while Sakura wrapped the brushes in a small plastic bag. Ino stood ready with a larger bag, into which the supplies were shoved, before she handed it to Akamaru. He took off with it out the open window to stash in the bushes beside the tree swing out front. The partners in crime returned to their seats.

Not a second too soon.

"He was busy so I'll go back later." The grumpy ninja looked at the students. "Now get back to work.

"Hey Teach!" Shikamaru called out.

"What?" the man snapped loudly and did the same thing he had been noted to do almost every time someone asked a question. It was just what they were all hoping for. While standing, he had slammed both of his hands flat down on the desk top.

"Doesn't matter I just figured out the answer."

"Stupid kids!" he growled under his breath and went to reach back for the chair. His hands went nowhere. He tried again to pull his hands away. Nothing. He pulled harder and only succeeded in moving the desk itself.

"Shut the hell up!" he yelled at the class. They had started to snigger and giggle.

He put his right foot against the front of the desk to gain leverage, but that failed – along with his attempt to replace his foot to the floor.

The students erupted into hilarity, Akamaru joining in from the window, when they all saw the teacher try in vain to get himself unstuck. He had been reduced to hopping backwards on one leg, moaning "Nee, Nee, Nee" on every pull-hop combo. Each time it was only the desk that moved until he was pinned to the wall, which he bounced off in his last hop. That had resulted in his left leg hitting the front of the desk and also become stuck in place. His last bid for freedom before screaming for help at the top of his lungs was trying to twist his body to the side. He did free his right hand, but the resulting jerk from its release had him fall forward and end up with his cheek flat against the desk top.

When help arrived he was carried, still attached to the desk, to the hospital.

Operation Exposure:

This plan consisted of 3 easy stages. The target: a newly passed chuunin.

The first stage was for Akamaru to empty the staff room with a distraction of stealing the coffee jar and high-tailing it out of there. They timed it for when the only tea drinker, and the only one who wouldn't chase the dog, had a class. When the room was devoid of occupants Shino slipped in and memorised their teacher's lesson plan for that day. The arrogant teenager made constant use of wall charts, but not all the time, so they needed to be sure and know which paper to replace. It also informed them of a time frame. He was planning on using a diagram on the chakra network in the human body in the afternoon class. Perfect.

The second phase was for Choji to bump into the chuunin as he entered the class, causing the multitude of papers to fall to the ground. The portly secret agent also dropped the replacement at the same moment and had it land closer to him. During his helping to pick up the documents, Choji slipped the real chart up his shorts leg and handed the decoy over. These were the only two pieces of folded paper so it wasn't hard to know what to switch. The target wasn't due to use the prop until after the afternoon break. This gave Naruto time to prepare the final stage.

The last stage was for the prankster to set the time-release genjutsu seals on the duplicate decoys. After a year of steadfast friendship between them all, Naruto had revealed his passion and talent for seals and Fumiko's of technology. The posters would be invisible to the naked eye once the seals were activated with a tiny pulse of chakra and would vanish when the set time expired and the once hidden object was revealed. Forgoing lunch, the 10 friends and dog set to work going around the academy building and grounds putting up the posters with tape or pins and sending a quick pulse of chakra to the seal and hiding the image from view. When they had each put up 2 to 3 posters each the bell rang and they returned to class.

Not ten minutes later, right on time with his lesson plan as always, the teenage teacher pulled out the 'wall chart' and pinned it up without really looking. It was when he saw the shocked, red, or seriously amused faces of his students that he saw what was on display. It was him posing with an unattractive naked woman in an advertisement for an erotic novel. The blood drained from his face and his mouth opened in a long, soundless, scream. You would think that the kids would be mentally scarred, but this was a ninja village full of perverts of every shape and size. Only a few children were left ignorant of the naked appearance of both sexes by the time they could talk.

The ghostly pale ninja was stuttering the question of who was responsible for the prank when a faint 'poof' was heard outside the door, along with a few others. In fact that same noise was heard all over the building and grounds, before yelps of surprise and fits of laughter were heard everywhere.

He ran into the hall and saw several of the same posters on the walls lining the corridor.

"HEY!" someone in the class shouted. "THERE'S SOME OUTSIDE!"

"Nooooo..." their teacher droned in disbelief.

The staff room was covered in sprayed mouthfuls of coffee when three posters appeared simultaneously. They looked at the posters, looked at each other and pelted out the door towards the deafening classroom. They smashed down the door in their haste and found the chuunin curled up on the floor, weeping. They erupted into laughter, renewing the amusement of the class.

He too was then carted off the hospital, knees curled to his chin and rocking back and forth.

Operation Lesson in Fate:

This one was in retaliation of using 'Fate' to speak down to both Hinata and Sakura, and it was one of the simplest to follow through. Kiba demanded an honour match during lunch to defend his friends. The group had been sworn to secrecy on Naruto's knowledge of the Shadow-Clone jutsu, which was used along with the Transformation jutsu to give Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino, Ino, Fumiko, Sakura, Sasuke and Choji an alibi if questioned on their whereabouts during the only time Neji left his bag unguarded. With that taken care of all that was left to do was steal all of the chalk from every room and stuff it all in unsuspecting Neji's bag. It was better stealth training than the academy could ever offer the pranksters.

In the wake of the consequent aftermath of discovering the main writing material of the learning establishment missing, Neji put a hand into his bag to retrieve the next required book for the lesson, but something else met his finger tips. Confused he had grasped the mysterious item, took it out and held it in front of his face. Chalk. It was a lucky coincidence for the prank 11 – Akamaru was considered just as important as everyone else – that Neji's teacher was looking his way when this happened. In the blink of an eye he was in front of the Hyuuga and wrenching open the bag. Chalk spilled everywhere and Neji was blamed for the whole theft, especially when the usual prime suspects had witnesses to their alibis. The poor boy's face spent the rest of that week switching from the looks of wanting to kill someone, and wanting to burst into tears.

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Iruka smirked as he also remembered the obvious framing of the Hyuuga boy, but he had heard of his lectures on fate and agreed that he could stand to be brought down a peg or two.

The same could have been said for a girl that had been in Iruka's own academy class when he was young. She had bragged about her book-smarts then and it hadn't changed one bit when she became a teacher. He had found out about her fear of insects and had been threatened into secrecy, but evidently their resident poltergeists had done their research and used her fear against her with a miniature invasion of the class room. She tried to blame Shino for it, but upon investigation they were not the kinds of bugs the Aburami clan used on mass and he had been cleared of the charges.

He downed the last gulp of his tea. A disconcerting sound came from his left, closely follow by the same sound to the right and across the room. It was the loud bubbling of stomachs. Each one was accompanied with a groan. Then before he knew it, the entire staff save for him were running out of the room holding either their stomach or backside. Iruka looked around the now empty room. He spotted the coffee jar tipped onto its side and the contents spilled onto the bench. He walked over and inspected the brown mixture closer. There was some white powder mixed in. _Whoever they are, they are good..._

A scream echoed through the academy. "WHY ARE THEY ALL OUT OF FUCKING ORDER?"

_They are _very _good..._


	10. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

The pranks had to take a back seat for a while. There were two far more pressing matters coming to a head. Both of which had been key factors in the cause of despair in the previous time-line: the Uchiha and Danzo.

The Hokage had reasoned that the latter took priority. They were finally in a position to be rid of the problem. In the dead of the night, Sarutobi and 6 teams of _loyal_ ANBU entered ROOT headquarters, cut off Danzo's retreat – with the help of some of Naruto's seals – and confronted him with the evidence. He was arrested, but the group was set upon by ROOT ninja and in the resulting struggle Danzo lost his life. Needless to say the council was furious that they had not been consulted on the matter. This was countered when subtle _mentions_ of why the council would have denied point blank Danzo's betrayal of Konoha and found some way to cease the investigation. The still arguing council members where thoroughly silenced when the mass of undisputable evidence that had been slowly accumulated over the past two years was shown to them.

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It was a quiet day in late autumn and was finally the climax of a two year long plan to remove those disloyal to the Hokage from the Uchiha clan via a clan civil war. All the loyal civilians of the clan were nowhere to be found in the compound, neither were any of the children. They had planted their reasons for being elsewhere weeks beforehand, be it an invitation to an evening out or a visit to friends. Some had been gradually building up routines over the weeks where they would quite often be away from the compound so that on this specific early evening their missing presence would not be questioned.

The peaceful streets belied the harsh reality that was going on behind closed doors and in the dark alleyways. The ninja loyal to the Hokage had been split into their teams and assigned different areas of the compound along with a list of the targets that should be in that location. Itachi's team were the back-up group. They were to be informed of any targets that were not where they were assumed to be, but they also had their own list of targets that their research indicated would not be in the compound at that point in time.

The others had already reported the completion of their tasks and Itachi himself was on his last. He stood in the middle of the street so as to lure the ninja out of hiding and into an attack. The young teen sighed at the predictability of his opponent as he heard the soft whistle of air with the kunai's release. With his bloodline activated he turned and caught the weapon in his fingertips. He didn't stop in his turn; instead he continued his spin, re-launched the metal and sent it hurtling back to its owner. Itachi kept up the spin until he was facing the opposite direction and walked away. Not once did he look back to the traitor sporting a kunai between the eyes as he headed towards his family home. His mother was waiting.

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Mikoto Uchiha sat on one of the kitchen chairs pulled away from the table and absently sharpened a kunai with a bored look on her face. It had been two hours since she had knocked out her husband with the frying pan and tied him to another of the kitchen chairs with a null-chakra seal over his heart, but it had been a whole hour since she had applied the gag to turn the infuriating man's sexist protests into mumbled growls.

Her eldest son appeared in the room and her husband's eyes took on a commanding light while the mumbles grew in volume. "He's not going to help you." She informed him with a small smirk, which grew at her 'beloved's' shock. She turned to her son. "Is it finished?" she asked hoping her voice didn't shake. There were a couple of people she had considered friends that had supported the coup, but none of them were going to come out of this without feeling pain on some level.

Itachi nodded and inclined his head towards his father. "He is the last."

At those words fear made its way onto Fugaku's face as realisation dawned. His carefully laid plans were out the window, his own wife and son had betrayed him, his supporters were now all dead – his wife had informed him of what was occurring while she was waiting – and he had the sinking feeling that this wasn't just the end of his plans, but of everything – for him at least.

Mikoto had been adamant that she be the one to eradicate the illustrious clan leader, not just in pay back for all the submissive treatment she had received over the years, but it seemed fitting for the new Clan Head to erase the old one. She stood and removed the gag, her eyes sending a deadly glare and warning Fugaku to stay silent.

"You have only yourself and those arrogant enough to follow you to blame." She began with her back to the window. "You let your egos grow so large that all sense was pushed from your heads and nearly led to our clan's destruction. Those of us with our sanity still intact have decided to act and bring about the change needed to save us from damnation."

She slammed her fist on the kitchen worktop at the opening of her husband's mouth, effectively silencing him once more.

"There will be no more acting like we are better than everyone else. There will be no one disloyal to the Hokage and no more ill treatment of women and children!" her voice had risen as she went on, but her next words were quiet, icily sharp and held a steel determination. "With you, the Uchiha stood alone and showed its strength to the village. Now the Uchiha will stand with the village and show our strength to the world!"

She let the words sink in. She knew her husband too well; he would say a retort sooner or later. On this occasion he opted for sooner.

"You stupid Bit-!"

Thud

The impossibly sharp kunai infused with chakra imbedded into the wall behind him, but not before passing through his open mouth, neck and then spinal cord.

Mikoto looked to Itachi. "You should never insult a woman."

"Yes Mother."

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"So there were only 83 fatalities in total?" the Third asked of the young ninja before him. _Thank goodness only 4 of those were our side. I doubt it would have been so little without the element of surprise. I'm glad I listened to Naruto and not put it all off for another 7 months._

"Yes Sir."

"I'm just glad it went as smoothly as it did."

"Indeed." Itachi agreed but there was something in his tone that perked the leader's interest.

"What is on your mind?"

"The idea for a Civil War seemed to come out of nowhere as we were both stuck for answers, but not 24 hours later this option was put forward. I cannot help but think that there is another individual out there to whom I owe my gratitude." He summarised.

Sarutobi chuckled. He should have expected the quiet genius to figure it out. _He'll know if I lie to him so might as well tell him the truth. _He linked his fingers together and leaned onto the desk.

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The pair of fox children walked their friend home. They knew very well what Sasuke would find when he got home but did their best to keep him ignorant of the nights events until his mother was given the chance to explain everything to him, the same as they had been doing for the rest of the day.

:Flashback:

Sasuke had just run into the class as Sakura hit Naruto on the head for telling a bad joke before he came to where Fumiko was sitting and held something out to her. "Do you think you can fix this?" he seemed to be almost pleading her to say 'yes'.

Startled at the sudden and breathless request, she studied the bundle of wires closer. It was a _very _smashed up ninja wireless, but it looked fixable. "Sure." She nodded and took the battered contraption.

Naruto nudged her from behind. She glanced at his pointed look and jerked slightly with understanding. "Why don't to come to ours after classes? It shouldn't take too long to put back to rights, maybe until just past dinner time."

Sasuke looked thoughtful then got a sneaky expression. "Make that tomato pasta-bake you and Hinata made last week and I'm there."

"Me too!" Choji piped up.

"And me!" Sakura joined in with her hand in the air.

Fumiko sweatdropped. "Alright, but you all have to help pay for ingredients."

A small chorus of cheers sounded around her. _I'm going to need Hinata's help with this..._

After class the friends headed out of the academy, Hinata had been roped into helping and Shino had joined their number, but they had to stop and support each other laughing when their latest victim was carried past them. He was making a 'chitter' sound and had a bucked teeth look to him. He must have only just been freed from the storage cupboard where he had been in the company of close to two dozen squirrels.

When they recovered they wiped away the tears and made their way to the grocery store to purchase the mountain of ingredients Hinata and Fumiko now needed for dinner.

:End Flashback:

Mikoto was waiting at the door for her youngest son and smiled softly when she saw him arrive with his two friends. She didn't care about what was sealed within Naruto, what she did care about was that her Sasuke had been much happier since becoming friends with him, and the rest of their little group, even if he did get in trouble every so often. She was one of the few parents that saw the – creative – pranks as ninja training and cast a blind eye to it as long as she was never one of the targets. An image of the Third covered in pink paint came to mind.

With a mental shake she dispelled the memory as Sasuke approached looking worried and confused. She held out her hand to him. He took it and waved goodbye to his friends, mimicked by his mother, and was led inside the house.

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"How do you think he'll take it?" she asked Naruto as she lay on the new rug reading up on audio storage devices and swishing her tail from side to side.

"Definitely better than he would of had his older brother slaughtered everyone but him."

They had both arrived home in a sour mood with worry for their friend weighing heavily on their hearts and minds.

**As long as he doesn't declare vengeance and get depressing it'll be fine. **Kyuubi lectured.

_Can't argue with you there._

**Really? You disappoint me Kit. **The fox in his head taunted.

_Go__ to Hell..._ Naruto thought half-heartedly.

**Already there.** Naruto smile weakly. The damn critter had a smart answer to almost everything. **You have no idea...**

The smile widened.

There was a knock on the door.

Furry extras gone Fumiko asked. "Who do you suppose that is? It's kinda late for visitors."

"How should I know? I don't really recognise the scent and you haven't put up that camera yet."

"Have ANBU even noticed it was missing?"

"Only when they spotted one of the pictures was suddenly crystal clear and the rest were still fuzzy."

She let out an exasperated sigh.

There was another knock.

"You gonna get that or what?"

"It's your door moron."

Naruto sweatdropped. "Oh yeah..." he sheepishly walked over and opened the door.

There stood Itachi.

A blood spattered Itachi.

Naruto stared quietly in wide-eyed surprise just like his flatmate who had peered around the corner of the entranceway on her knees.

With arms flat to his side's Itachi said. "Ask anything of me and it is yours. You have my eternal gratitude."

The two pairs of eyes widened further.

The visitor gave an extremely rare, deep, formal bow and vanished.

They blinked at the empty space then each other.

"You think Gramps ratted us out?" he asked her under his breath.

"Looks like." She replied, stunned. Such a show of respect from the skilled Uchiha was so unheard of that it had become a local legend that if it were to ever happen a world altering event would befall the village.


	11. Chapter 11

Here's the next chap.

Keep the feedback coming!

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Chapter 11

Sasuke had been depressed for a couple of days, but he had pulled through mostly thanks to Naruto, and Sakura – with Fumiko's disguised meddling. What the underage masterminds hadn't taken into account, but soon found to be very helpful in their prank endeavours, was Itachi. He didn't have direct involvement, but he made it in his interest to know who was teaching his little brother's class and drop coded hints of weak points in skill, or likes and dislikes. These tiny bits of information tended to prove very useful.

A prime example was their current victim. During breakfast their informant had hinted to Sasuke that the jounin was not as efficient as most in spotting traps. So they had set up a whole string of traps before the teacher even arrived to the classroom for their first lesson.

She had opened the door to a bag of flour into her face, taken a step to slip on the puddle on the floor and skid into the room to fall over a trip wire. This triggered the release of the finale, a string of ropes linked to a retracting pulley on the roof set up at the open window. As soon as they were activated they shot out, wrapped tightly round the woman and hauled her out the window and halfway up the building. This is where stayed for the majority of the day as the kids cleaned up the classroom, lied whenever someone asked where their teacher was and did as they pleased, thanking their luck that one of the ropes had gone round the ninja's mouth and acted like a gag, neutralising her ability to call for help.

All eleven of the pranksters were gathered around Shikamaru, Choji and Ino's bench having a massive game of 'shithead', using 13 decks of cards. They were not bothered in the slightest by the chaos raining down around them with the papers being thrown, some kids chasing each other, a group of girls dancing on the desk and the unfortunate boy that was hanging by his ankles from the ceiling.

This was the scene Kakashi walked into when he opened the door in his normal ninja gear. His shoulders slumped and his jaw went slack in disbelief. He thought the Hokage had been exaggerating on the problems caused by Naruto's class, but he was proven wrong. Someone who noticed his presence called over to inform him the teacher was away to the bathroom. Kakashi highly doubted the truth in that, but he wasn't there for the teacher. He looked around for a certain blonde. His eye caught sight of him, and Fumiko close by, just as Sasuke yelled protest that the 'Dope' was cheating and the group all laughed at his discomfort. Curious, he walked over.

They all had various numbers of cards in their hands and no more than six in front of them, three face down and three on top of those facing up. Looking at the fuming Uchiha he saw he had all six cards in front of him and at least 2 whole decks worth in his hands, meanwhile the smirking Naruto had one card in his hand and none on the desk. They went round in a circle, each taking a turn to put down varying numbers of cards onto the pile or growling and picking the growing pile up. It came to Naruto's turn.

He threw down his last card with a grin and declared them all 'shitheads'. He received a kick in the shins from Shino and Kiba and a duet of Sakura and Hinata's fists slamming down on top of his head.

With a curt nod Hinata retracted her hand and looked to Kakashi. "Can we help you with something?"

He was surprised for two reasons. The first being that none of the group had given any indication that they had noticed him standing a little ways off to the side and the second was that last he heard the Hyuuga princess was very shy and never spoke out, and when she did she always stuttered. That obviously was not the case. He cleared his throat and come right up beside the group of children.

"The Third Hokage has asked me to bring Naruto Uzumaki and Fumiko Akamori to him." His eye creased as he gave them all a friendly smile.

Their friends all looked at them hoping for an explanation, but all they got was shrugs of the shoulders. It was near the end of the day anyway so they retrieved their bags, they hadn't bothered to bring anything other than the cards and supplies needed for the prank out.

"We'll catch you guys later." Naruto called from the door as they made to follow Kakashi.

"Troublesome." Mumbled Shikamaru as the door slid shut behind them.

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They stood quietly in front of the Hokage. Kakashi was still there and they weren't sure if he was going to rat them out or not.

"I've had you two brought before me today to put a question to you."

This was met with confusion from the children and Kakashi.

"After the 'loss' of Danzo," he actually used air quotes, "the resistance to a certain request from Kakashi here has become basically non-existent."

The kids remained confused but Kakashi got a mixture surprise, excitement and elation.

At the seeming decision to not explain further Naruto asked the Third the obvious. "What 'request' might that be?"

However, it was Kakashi that answered. "To be assigned Guardianship of you, Naruto."

Naruto choked on thin air and Fumiko did her best to hide a smirk. She had thought that might happen when Danzo was finally gone.

"However," the Hokage interjected, "that was well before Fumiko here fell into our laps and she has been a hot topic ever since."

Fumiko froze and Naruto couldn't help getting an odd feeling in his stomach.

"The council refused on the base on a pointless old law to allow the Guardianship of two individuals to a single ninja so..."

"So I have offered to adopt her as there is nothing to prevent that." Kakashi finished, amused that the girl in question strongly resembled a fish with the way she kept opening and closing her mouth, and her wide eyes.

Naruto, at the sight of his gob-smacked flatmate, recovered his own voice. He looked to the Hokage pointedly. "Does he know what he's getting with us? _All_ of us?" he had included Kyuubi in his question and the Third knew it. The boy glanced at the confused frown he could make out from underneath Kakashi's mask. "He doesn't, does he?" he scolded in a brief role reversal.

Sarutobi shook his head. "I doubt he would have believed me if I simply told him." He admitted. "Although, he is aware of Fumiko's cute extras."

"How's that?"

Kakashi felt like he had been forgotten in the back of the room as the Hokage explained his statement to the blonde boy. He looked to Fumiko. She was still gaping. He walked over, knelt down in front of her and placed a comforting hand on her head.

Her mouth closed and she stared at the smiling man. He barely knew her and he was going to do something so amazingly nice for her. Tears welled up and her ears and tail popped out.

This surprised Kakashi for a second but he didn't back off, or retreat in fear like so many others. He just chuckled softly and moved his hand from side to side gently.

That was it. The dam broke. She dove at him, knocking his ass into the floor, and clung to his vest with her eyes shut tight and squeezing out tears of happiness.

He chuckled again and hugged her tight. _You can't help but love a kid this cute. _He thought as he adjusted her arms so they were around his neck and stood off the floor, keeping her held securely in his arms. "Well, since at least the adoption is decided, could someone please explain what Naruto here has hinted I'm missing?"

"On you go Naruto." The Third told the boy, passing all responsibility to him.

**Sly old geezer...** Kyuubi complimented.

_I'll say..._ his container agreed then went into the lengthy story of both his and Fumiko's 'past' lives, their unplanned trip through time, that he knew of his lineage, a short explanation on Fumiko's lineage also and of how he was now merged with Kyuubi and had physical attributes similar to Fumiko. He had then proceeded to release the genjutsu he placed on himself every morning, he had been working on infusing it into a wearable item so that he didn't have to worry about it deactivating while he slept.

Kakashi's jaw got lower and lower the further on the story got. He had felt Fumiko's grip tighten and she hid her face in his neck when Naruto got to her part of the story and told of her missing eye and tail, and her scars. It was unconscious, but by the time Naruto had finished telling that part he had held the girl closer and started to rub her back to ease her discomfort, to which both Naruto and Sarutobi had smiled. He couldn't believe his eyes when Naruto unleashed his fox ears and tail.

"I can go a step further and go into my fox form. It has nine tails like Kyuubi but is way smaller and takes loads of effort." Naruto pouted, but grinned when he shared a look with Fumiko. "Fumi though can go into her own fox form no sweat seen as she is actually half fox."

"You can?" Kakashi asked in wonder. He was echoed by the Hokage, to whom Fumiko stuck out her tongue, but she nodded to Kakashi.

"I couldn't do it when I didn't have my tail." She gave a short look of concentration and in a swirl of blue light the fox-girl was replaced with a fox kit. It was the cutest little fox either of the two men had ever seen. Where foxes were usually one colour with white tips on the ends of the ears and tail, Fumiko was white with brown – the shade of her human hair – on the tips instead. The front edges of her ears were a light cream, the same with the area around the eyes, and she had a light pink nose. There was a gradient of tones of brown on her chest, stomach and along the underside of her tail, and a wide ring of light brown around her back ankles.

Large emerald eyes looked up at Kakashi from the circle of his arms and he could just feel himself melt. If anyone ever dared to try and hurt her, he swore they would find a Chidori shoved up their ass.

Naruto just had to shatter the moment. "She'll do tricks for ice-cream."

In a flash she was gone from his arms and chasing the idiot around the room growling, "I told you to never mention that! Get back here Nami! I'm going to maul your face and make those whiskers scars! That's it, I'm asking Kyuubi to sing 'Bunch of Coconuts' until you pass out!

That brought the boy to a halt with a plea of, "No! Anything but that!"

"Wish granted!" she appeased and sunk her teeth into his hand.

The wide eyes of the two adult ninja followed them around the room, with Naruto swinging his arm to rid himself of the fox and Fumiko refusing to let go, as they conversed on the situation.

"You still want to take these two on?"

"Without a doubt." Kakashi answered resolutely, still watching the children's antics.

Naruto finally managed to dislodge the fanged piece of fur and called over to Kakashi and Sarutobi. "One last thing Kakashi." He made a few hand signs and pressed his injured hand to the floor. He hadn't had to call out in years so he didn't bother, his throat hurt from screaming anyway.

There was a large puff of smoke and as it cleared two things could be seen. First was that Naruto no longer had his fox ears and tail, and second was the large dog sized Kyuubi in the middle of the room. Kakashi stared in shock for a few moments then rubbed his hand on the back of his head. "I should have seen that coming."

"You still agree?" the Hokage pressed.

"Yes."

"Good. With that sorted we can make arrangements when you find a place for you all to stay.

"Actually I just bought a 3 bedroom house." Kakashi smirked.

"How'd you manage that?" Naruto asked after the puff of smoke announcing Kyuubi's return to his mind.

"I'd like to ask the same question." the Third agreed as Fumiko used the desk to spring onto Kakashi's shoulder.

He laughed at her behaviour and poked her nose playfully, laughing further when she went cockeyed. "I actually started saving when you first assigned me the task of investigating Danzo."

"I should have guessed." Sarutobi sighed.

Naruto's ears snapped forward. "What about our apartment?"

"That's right!" Fumiko seconded. "All of our friends use it as a place to hang out in their spare time or get away from their parents for a bit."

"Do you think we could keep using it for that? We would all pitch in to keep it in order." The blonde asked with his cutest face.

"Please." Fumiko accompanied jumping onto the desk, putting her ears back and curling her tail round her legs.

The Hokage's lip quivered in his weakening resolve to not be moved, and Kakashi was desperately trying to control the urge to laugh at the blatant attempt to manipulate the respected Third Hokage.

"Alright." He conceded defeat.

The children cheered in joy, joined by Kakashi as he wanted in on the fun. The kids heard this and, with Fumiko turning back to her natural form, tackled Kakashi into a 'family' hug. This life had suddenly become far better than either of them could ever have imagined.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry people suffered some minor Writer's Block, cured now

Please review! I can't help but squeak happily when i get a new one.

Thank You SOOOOO much for all the feedback so far!

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Chapter 12

When Kakashi showed them their new home a few days before they had decided to move in Naruto was positive the jounin had been saving for more than the two years he had admitted to the Hokage about. It had an outer wall enclosing a small front garden that led to a traditional Japanese entrance way with sliding doors. This was also the hallway containing a set of stairs to the upper floor to the immediate right, a door to the kitchen to the left, a door to the living room just off to the right and on the far right corner were a small utility room and downstairs toilet.

The kitchen was spacious with a large solid wood table big enough to seat a large family of 6 easily. Fumiko nearly fainted at the sight of the double door fridge-freezer and the thought of just how much ice-cream it could hold instead of the tiny freezer compartments in their normal fridge. The living room was a mixture of traditional and modern. Instead of the traditional paper sliding doors they were glass, but they still opened onto a wooden walkway that ran along the back and sides of the house, and there were a three person and a two person pair of sofas. The back garden shared the same high wall as the rest of the house and was perfect in their eyes. There was a good size area of flat grass and space to one side to put training posts, a wide pond that they could use to practice fighting on water or water-based jutsus for Fumiko and then in the back they couldn't help but see the centre-piece of the old cherry blossom. It seemed to scream 'climb me' and a long straight branch just begged for a couple of swings.

The hallway at the top of the stairs curled back on itself. The first door you would pass was the family bathroom, then a decent sized room that could easily fit a couple of double beds – which Fumiko got dibs on before Naruto could say anything – and had a glass door to a small balcony overlooking the garden. The room next door was the same in size and shape, but had no balcony, and the bedroom at the end of the corridor was longer and narrower, and had been claimed by Kakashi before Naruto could say anything. The troublesome pair made a joke that it had to be the first thing he wasn't late in doing.

They pulled their money together and got identical 'presents' for their friends and gathered them at the apartment. When there they all sat around the kitchen table on the different seats and stools they had collected over the last couple of years, Naruto and Fumiko passed out the small red boxes and told them not to open them just yet.

"What's going on?" Sakura questioned.

"You're up to something Dope." Naruto just grinned in response and turned to the newly adopted girl signalling her to start explaining.

"Well we both have some big pieces of news." She took a deep breath. "A ninja named Kakashi Hatake has been given Guardianship of Naruto." Before she could say anything else Naruto was deafened with congratulations. When it calmed she was headed off once again by Shikamaru.

"What about you Fumi? A single ninja can only be given Guardianship of more than one child..." he paused and appeared to be mulling something over in his mind as the rest of the group stared in confusion, wondering what he was getting at. "The only way around it would be for either you or Naruto to be..."

Fumiko grinned and nodded. The confused stares turned into glares as the rest of them got frustrated at still being kept out of the loop. "That's right; you are now looking at Fumiko Akamori Hatake."

"WHAT!" The building shook with the sheer volume level of their outbursts.

When his ears had stopped ringing Naruto had gone into the quick explanation that Kakashi had wanted to take him in for years but had only just got into a position to do so, and after getting to know Fumiko and how well they got along he had decided to adopt her. The blonde laughed when he told them of just how quickly his new Guardian had developed the 'over-protective-father syndrome' in regards to the female brunette.

"Are you moving in with him?" Kiba asked the obvious question.

Ino hit him on the head. "Of course they are!"

"But what about this place?" Hinata spoke up.

"Open your boxes." Naruto instructed.

They did.

"This place officially belongs to all of us." The blonde chirped, but his friend noticed the need to explain that statement further.

"What Whiskers means is that while we don't have to pay rent, we all have to chip in on the utility bills but it can be used as a retreat from parents, studying, hanging out, planning, anything we want. We had the idea of turning Whisker's room into a small training room and eventually getting a couple of bunk beds in my room."

"Is that okay with everyone?" The chorus of cheers was answer enough.

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People from all walks of life found themselves having to stop and stare at the small parade, led by Naruto, of 10 7-year-old children – and Akamaru – carrying bundles and boxes of belongings to their new destination. They didn't actually have very many personal items to take so with the help of all their friends all the stuff was shifted in one trip.

The majority of the moving in with Kakashi experience was filled with fun and laughter, especially with things like Kakashi falling down the stairs, throwing his box in the air and landing flat on his back with all of his underwear raining down on top of him. However, it also became an enlightening day for Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Shikamaru and Sasuke. Where the others had been recalled home for the rest of the day, they had stayed behind and thus found out a couple of secrets about the two of them.

Fumiko was the only one upstairs and she was in her room moving some things around while Hinata had taken their plate – now empty of snacks – down to be washed. She didn't watch her feet as she turned round with a pile of bed sheets overloading her small arms, tripped, fell to the floor with a loud thump and got severely tangled in the sheets. She got such a fright that she didn't even notice the reappearance of her furry accessories, so had no inclination to hide them again before everyone else in the house rushed into the room. Naruto and Kakashi would have laughed at the sight she made, but the gasps from the others halted the urge.

"What...?" the confused girl asked at the five stunned and two worried looks she was receiving.

"Fumi..." Naruto slowly pointed to where his own ears would have been had they been on show.

Her eyes went wide and she slowly reached up with both hands, if only to confirm her growing fear. They touched fur. "Holy... Freaking... Shit..."

The stupefied children let out squeals of "Ehhh!"

But, not before Kakashi scolded, "Language Young Lady!"

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They had spent the past hour telling the children Fumiko's story before she came to the village, well the edited version of her running from home when her parents were killed for fear of sharing the same fate and having no one to turn to. They were truthful in the fact that if was Kakashi that found her and brought her to Konoha, but they left out some details.

Right now the boys were in a deep discussion about the in's and out's of demon clans that were already known and what remained a mystery, meanwhile keeping one eye each on the girls. The no longer shy Hinata was in the determined process of chasing down Fumiko around the garden, which had no on-lookers (one of the main reasons this house had been chosen), in order to get a hold of her cute, bushy tail. She had already assaulted the ears.

However, after the ninth close call she had had enough of the constant onslaught, and of being the source of the others' amusement. She kept up her speed, but changed direction. She headed straight for Naruto.

**Shit! Kit, run! **Kyuubi all but screamed in warning.

Naruto put his full attention on Fumiko's face. _Fuck! _She was beyond pissed and too close to escape considering he was in the corner of the room and was cut off from any escape routes either side when you added in how fast the girl could move when prompted. _I'm done for..._ he resigned himself to his fate and stood his ground to await his beating.

It never came. What did happen was Fumiko focused some charka and poked his chest, hard, and growled, "Release!"

He stared at her dumbfounded, as did everyone else. "We're in this together remember?"

**This is what you get for laughing.** Kyuubi chided.

She smiled wickedly at him. "If I'm going down, you're coming with me."

It was his turn to resemble a fish as the rest of the room's occupants forgot to breathe.

_I forgot her tail issues..._

**At your own peril it seems...** Kyuubi chuckled sadistically. He was going to love how dangerous the girl's anger could be. It showed her demonic power in his opinion.

She exited to the garden once more and sat on one of the new tree swings, swinging her legs gently, leaving the fox-eared blonde and Kakashi to give the censored version of Naruto's story. When finished and the majority of the questions were asked, Hinata used the element of surprise and pounced on her furry friend. She got in one stroke of the tail before Naruto freaked out and, worming out of her grasp, took off running – the exact same way as Fumiko – with the Hyuuga heiress hot on his heels.

From her peacefully swaying perch, Fumiko smirked in victory. _Revenge is sweet_, she thought then giggled, _but I won't tell Sasuke that._


	13. Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

It was with a racing heart and the feeling of utter dread that Iruka entered the 'cursed' classroom. Not only did no teacher survive very long, but he knew it contained the fox-child. He was the boy with the monster sealed inside him, the monster that had robbed him of his parents. Sure he had watched Naruto over the past 3 years, but as he watched the boy change from a recluse to a popular student with lots of friends, he found that at some point his hatred had softened. He was unable to see the boy's whole hearted grin and feel hate. He now understood that while he feared the sealed demon, he actually liked the boy.

Iruka pushed his musings to the side and approached the desk. He put his books and scroll down on the surface but was careful not to touch it himself, it had been the route of too many 'losses'. The nervous ninja wasn't going to take any chances, even if he was only filling in for the last three hours of the day. Some had been carted off for mental evaluations with less. Not 20 minutes before a very – Iruka had to admit – arrogant, father of four had run from the room crying in black, fishnet suspenders, red hooker heels, black under-bust corset and a fluorescent pink tutu.

The class of 8-year-olds watched him expectantly.

He took a deep, steadying breath and got on with it.

Three hours later he felt completely drained but only because all the adrenaline that had been pumped around his system, had gone unused. There was no bad behaviour, well apart from the usual you would expect from kids their age, and he had come out unscathed. It was a miracle. Iruka couldn't believe it. Neither could the rest of the staff. The Hokage caught wind of it and instantly assigned Iruka as the class's official new teacher.

Sarutobi nearly feinted when a bag of chocolate coated ginger appeared in his top drawer not an hour later and realised the 'Prank Masters' had been aiming for this outcome all along.

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With the desired teacher in place, things quietened down, if only a little, at the academy. The groups of friends focused more on their studies and ninja skills. Naruto and Sasuke were in constant competition for top of the class with Naruto having to retrain his muscles, but he held back so as to help push his friends, especially Sasuke, to better themselves – it was also so as to not raise suspicion that he knew more than a ninja student should at his age.

Fumiko, while she had taught herself to fight before she met Naruto, was learning everything for the first time, but her high intelligence helped with the written studies and her fighting ability helped with the practical skills. For her it was a matter of building up her bodily strength and chakra control, as her first attempt at a jutsu at home had enlightened the unorthodox household that being a half-demon gave her massive chakra reserves – although nowhere near as much as Naruto. Over time she worked her way up to top koniochi.

Ino and Sakura had started to compete for Sasuke but several factors nipped that in the bud and saved their friendship. One was the quiet heart to heart Naruto had with Sakura in which he got the point across that Sasuke would want a girl who was strong in her own right and got him to chase her, not the other way around. At this she had exited fangirl mode and hunkered down to memorise the medical scrolls Fumiko 'just so happened' to have come across (meaning she threatened the Third that she would make the photograph of him snoring with his head back and mouth wide open public). Another influence was that she did in fact catch Sasuke's attention and Ino knew she was out of the running, but that didn't stop a few more attempts. After a few months of study and a lot of practise, which she wanted to keep secret until she got better, Sasuke had gotten a cut on his arm while sparring with Naruto and once she took him to the side so no one could see, she healed it. He blushed as he thanked her and a crush started to take hold.

The Fox-Duo had been stumped on ideas to try and initiate the affection between Ino and Choji, but life it seemed had decided to help them out on that score. On her way home from the Den – as they had all dubbed Naruto and Fumiko's old apartment – Ino was cornered by some older boys. It quickly became apparent, by their choice of insults, that they were some of those few forced to drop out of the academy for lack of skill, either that or the belief that muscular strength was everything. She would have shown them otherwise if she were not carrying a fragile potted plant to a client. She did her best to ignore them, but they got rough when she made to walk off. One grabbed her arm and she lost her grip on the pot, sending it smashing to the ground. She punched him, more out of instinct than fury, but another kicked her into the wall behind her. Winded, her scream was silenced as they lunged at her, but they never landed. Choji had performed his primary expansion jutsu and literally bowled the bullies away and knocked them unconscious, the amazing fact is that he didn't drop even one of his crisps. Ino stared shakily at him and when he offered up a cherished crisp to try and make her feel better she had tackled him into a hug. Needless to say he was stunned as he walked her home with the hopefully salvageable remains of the flower, and she started to forget her pursuit of Sasuke. It was also the wakeup call she needed to focus more on her training.

Shino and Shikamaru progressed like the rest of them, but opened up more and more in showing their emotions, Shino even started to laugh on occasion. He seemed to appreciate that his friends were not just fine with him having bugs in his body, but took the time to ask after them just the same as they would ask how he was doing.

Shikamaru was happy to have fellow cloud-watchers in Naruto and Choji, and enjoyed having to up the effort level a little when he played board games against Fumiko.

Hinata and Fumiko had become official best friends. The Hyuuga heiress remained just that, Heiress, as her increased confidence in herself passed into her fighting. However, she didn't want to be used as an example of 'how great the Hyuuga Clan is' so she fought just hard enough to retain her birthright and spare her younger sister of the responsibilities. Her crush for Naruto had been gently nudged into another direction. It was a secret between the two best friends, but if anyone saw the way she, or Kiba, always blushed when she took Akamaru for a walk with him, they would guess the mutual attraction. She walked with them on most of partners' walks and was sometimes joined by Fumiko in fox form – mainly to play or train with Akamaru – but she usually left them to it.

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The academy may have calmed down somewhat, but that did not mean that pranks were not pulled elsewhere.

Sarutobi's Hokage hat had vanished to be found 3 days later on the head of a cow on the outskirts of the village. He had Naruto hauled into his office as soon as it was found and refused to believe his denials of pulling the prank. Two weeks later it went missing again, only this time it had been strapped to the head of the infamous Tora. The Third was on the roof of the Hokage tower when an ANBU informed him of this. He sighed desperately and ordered the ninja to join in the ongoing chase.

A chuckle sounded behind him.

He spun around and there stood Naruto with his hands behind his head and a smirk on his face.

"Now _that_ was me." He confessed and shuishined away.

The old man was left with the desire to cry, knowing full well he had asked for it.

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Naruto managed to finish his remote summoning seal and put it to good use, on two occasions in particular. This was the seal used to transport that unfortunate teacher years before to the women's hot springs after its initial conception. It had been altered and honed since then.

The first use of the finished item was on Kakashi.

The Fox-Duo had fast gotten fed up with the man always being late, even on special occasions. So, as a mixture of a bet and a birthday treat, Naruto set up a sending platform large enough to cover the whole area in front of the main door to the house. You would think this seal would revolutionise ninja way of travel, but a single use left even the blonde feeling a little drained. The bet was that should Kakashi be on time, like Fumiko hoped as it was her birthday and they were having a party for once, and Naruto would buy all she could eat at Ichiraku's, if he was late then she would make him all the pancakes he could eat in one sitting. As soon as she had learned the recipe and he had tasted them he was hooked on them the same way Fumiko was on mint-choc-chip ice-cream. Like usual, Kakashi was late, had had a valid excuse – for once – of talking with the Hokage, but as far as the two were concerned: a lesson had to be taught.

Kakashi was only allowed to feel a second of fear before he disappeared in a puff of smoke from his home and re-appeared where Naruto had placed the receiver seal, the middle of the clothes market, where most women – civilian and koniochi alike, could be found at this time of day. That wouldn't be a problem usually, but right now it was. Back on the sending platform the smoke cleared to reveal all but one piece of Kakashi's clothing. The petrified man was standing in nothing but his mask and a thong that he was damned sure he had not been wearing before, and nearly the entire female population present in the market were eyeing him like birds of prey. At some unknown signal they swooped in for the kill and Kakashi made a break for it.

By the time he made it home he had successfully lost every woman in the village, but not before a few dozen had tried to rape him. Some had gotten close, hence why he no longer had the thong and he had to hold the tattered mask to his face.

He was never late to anything the two considered important again.

The same party sealed a similar fate for Asuma.

He had come to know Kakashi through a couple of missions and through him met the two troublemakers his father was always complaining about in an oddly affectionate tone. He had come to be an honorary uncle, so his presence was requested for the party. After all, it wasn't everyday a girl turned 11.

Things had been going well. The presents had been exchanged, Naruto had used his chakra to mould some silver into the village's leaf emblem and put a small loop at the top so it could be worn as a pendant, and the children were all out in the garden playing near the tree swings while the adults taunted Kakashi about the state of his arrival home. It was then that Asuma got serious hunger pangs.

He had only got back from a mission the day before and his body wanted to forget the taste of rations. Seeing no harm he helped himself to what was left in the fridge as the food table had been tidied away. _Oh! Pancakes and ice-cream! Just the thing!_ He had not yet learned that such actions would seal his doom.

A week later he had casually walked into his father's office and, in a puff of smoke – and at the sound of sniggering – he was gone. His destination...

...Kurenai's living room.

She looked up from her magazine to see Asuma standing there, wearing nothing but a pink bow around his waist.


	14. Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

It was the morning of the genin exam, the very _early_ morning, and the Hatake household was in near chaos. The chaos wasn't at its full potential as certain ninja with mismatched eyes was still sound asleep and blissfully unaware of the world around him.

The two 12-year-olds in his care were far from any kind of relaxation. They had an exam to get to.

At the moment Naruto was muttering his usual curse of not getting the room closest to the bathroom as he banged on the door, calling for Fumiko to get out.

"I'll be out in a minute!"

"You said that 20 minutes ago!" he yelled, the vein on his forehead ready to pop.

"Calm down Whiskers! I'm nearly finished!" she hissed as she hastily wrapped her hair in a towel.

"Some of us have places to be ya know!" he hollered. His short patience was ready to snap.

"Where? The pound!" she asked sarcastically and adjusted the towel around her body.

That did it. He pulled himself back a few steps and made ready to ram the door down.

She reached for the lock.

He started his approach.

She unlocked the door and slid it to the side.

He heard the click, saw the door slide and couldn't stop.

With an 'Eep!' from Fumiko, a 'Shit!' from Naruto and a loud crash the pair ended up on the floor, in a rather undignified fashion. His new genin outfit had been thrown to the side to try and brace his fall, while his hands were flat on the floor on either side of Fumiko's head, his knees were on either side of her left leg and even though he wasn't right on top of her, he was close enough to feel a certain pair of her body parts press against his chest and his leg rub against another one. With her elbows bent, her hands lay frozen to either side of Naruto's hands and the loose towel had been knocked from her head, releasing her long hair that had spread around her like a halo.

For a few seconds, time seemed to stop as the two stared at one another completely frozen, their hearts pounding in their ears, until a loud drip of water from the recently shut off tap awakened their senses. This slammed them back into reality. The reality where Naruto was only in his frog covered boxers and while Fumiko's dignity remained intact, the towel around her had loosened to a point where it was showing a lot more of her re-blossoming breasts than she cared to show. In a heartbeat they went bright red in face and Naruto sprang away from her. She clutched the towel to her and in a single, swift movement she was up off the floor, into her room and slammed the door shut.

Fumiko leaned against the door with her head bowed, hands clutching the material over her heart and willing it to slow down. She panted, out of breath from the sheer, unexpected shock. She frowned. She was confused. Yes, their clash should have surprised her, but should she have got the warm butterflies in her stomach and felt so lightheaded? _What was that?_ She had no idea.

Naruto was going through the same confusion, but he had an extra occupant of his mind who liked to stir matters.

**This is better than the hospital incident**. Kyuubi was finding the whole thing very entertaining. **You didn't see as much, but felt a hell of a lot more! **The fox's bark-like laughter echoed in the boy's head.

_Shut up! _He growled back in warning. _Don't talk about her like that!_

**My, my, protective aren't we?**

Naruto growled out loud this time.

Kyuubi took no notice and pushed his point further. **What? With the way you are with her and how your body reacts around her anyone with any sense would think you planning on making her your mate...**__Kyuubi let that idea sink in and would have grinned, if he had a body, at the lobster red face of the no longer breathing Naruto. **Speaking of reactions... I suggest you take a cold shower...**

The blonde cried out in frustrated embarrassment at what the fox was referring to and quickly jumped in the – rather chilly – shower.

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Kakashi finally arose from his slumber and, after a trip to the bathroom, traipsed down the stairs to find Fumiko finishing her breakfast and his own sitting there ready for him. As much as he hated mornings he had to smile at the scene she made with fox ears perked forward in concentration as she focused on chewing faster, and her cheeks puffed out with her full mouth. "Morning Fumi." He greeted with a tired smile. He had gotten into the habit of not putting his mask up until after breakfast, but only when he was alone or it was just Fumiko in the house. This was mainly to piss Naruto off.

"Morning!" she greeted back cheerful after a very large gulp.

"Where's Naruto?" he asked as he sat down. "And where did the outfit come from?"

"It's something I've been saving for the exam for luck and will be what I usually where if I pass." She gave him a wobbly smile to show him her nerves, before she moved onto his other question. "And Naruto," she blushed at the name, "said he had something to take care of before going to the academy."

Kakashi's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't know if it was with his little girl blushing at the mention of Naruto or the fact that the said blonde was up and gone before breakfast. He went back to the first reason and frowned. _What did he do to make my pretty flower blush like that?_ An investigation was needed, and a possible use of Chidori.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Fumiko pushed against the table to stand up, causing it to shake. He looked at the young teen and wanted to burst into hysterical tears thinking that she was growing up too fast, a fear most father's had.

She loved her new outfit. She found it both pretty and practical. It was a long, white top that stopped just below her hips and had a neckline that cut across her neck and shoulders in a wide green bar that wrapped round the top of her arms. She was also sporting a pair of close fitting, knee-length shorts when she was used to wearing baggy ones, but they still had the same concealed hole at the back so her tail could come out easily. Apart from that she had the usual ninja leg bandages and pouch, and had the common blue footwear waiting at the front door. She still wore her hair to the side, but with the increasing length of it she now had a sizable knot holding it in place instead of a bobble.

She looked at the kitchen clock and her breath hitched. "I'm going to be late!" she screeched and pelted for the step in the entranceway. She fired on her shoes and with a "Bye" called over her shoulder she was out the house and making her way across the rooftops.

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She arrived just before the last bell and, doing her best to ignore the appreciative looks of more than one boy in class, made her way to her seat. She had just sat down when Naruto entered.

"What is the Dope wearing?" Sasuke asked two seats to her left, the other side of where Naruto usually sat. "He looks weird."

Sakura turned in her seat in front of him. "No he doesn't. He looks really good for once. It's much better than his normal clothes." She said looking the blonde up and down as he headed in their direction.

Fumiko had to pinch her leg to stop herself from laughing at the jealousy in the Uchiha's face. She found it ironic that for a girl that wanted Sasuke's attention, when she stopped actively seeking it, focused on herself and actually got his attention, she was completely clueless of it.

"Looking different, Dope." Sasuke commented to the blonde when he sat down.

"I excel at not being normal." He grinned back.

He was wearing orange trousers that were gathered in under the knees by bandages that went down to meet the blue ninja shoes and a black, netted, half-sleeved top underneath a black short-sleeved t-shirt. On top of that was an orange jacket with blue going across the shoulders, front and back, and on the side panels under his arms. There was a wide, high and smooth orange collar and orange sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows and had a white, swirl embellishment sewn onto the top of the left arm. He wore the jacket open, which was what was causing the girls to stare, as his t-shirt was not tight, but fitted enough to show off the results of his constant physical training.

Fumiko was still fighting down the blush that wanted to grace her cheeks when she saw him enter, but she lost the battle when Ino decided to not keep her loud comment to herself and instead share it with the whole class.

"Damn Fumi! How lucky are you living with _that_ body!" the 'you're welcome' look she gave the thoroughly embarrassed girl gave the impression she was doing her friend a favour, but the harpy-like glares Fumiko was receiving was anything but helpful. However she was saved at the entrance of Iruka and the start of the exam. She didn't notice the matching blush on the blonde beside her.

The group of friends passed all the first stages easily and continued to do so smoothly in the final test of producing clones, until it was Naruto's turn. They were being called through to another room by a genin that had been roped into helping, as luck would have it they had Neji, and as Hinata left the classroom for her turn Naruto ducked down behind the bench in the back corner.

"What are you up to now?" Fumiko asked leaning over the work surface.

"Having fun." He created a shadow clone just before Hinata and Neji returned, with the Hyuuga heiress carrying a leaf headband.

"Naruto Uzumaki." The dull boy called.

The clone jumped up. "Coming." It said and followed his guide, who Hinata stuck her tongue out at as soon as his back was turned causing those who saw it to giggle, from the room.

When they were gone the fox-girl removed her teeth from her tongue and leaned back over the desk. "You can come out now." She called.

Several classmates gave her odd looks, which turned to confusion when Naruto stood up and hopped over the bench to sit beside where his housemate was standing.

"Troublesome" came from the direction of Shikamaru, but it was actually from a button Fumiko had made him that played a recording of his voice when pressed.

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a put upon sigh. Kiba smirked, he had been wondering when the one-man-army was going to use that jutsu in public, he figured that this must have been the 'special occasion' the blonde had mentioned.

In the examination room 'Naruto' was being briefed on what was required of him to pass.

"Just to clarify, it can be any kind of clone?" the boy enquired.

"Yes..." Iruka told him, puzzled at the odd question. "But there has to be three of them."

"Ok, but can I make a deal with you first?"

Iruka knew Naruto was talking to him as he had been ignoring Mizuki's very existence all day. "What might that be?"

The fox-boy grinned. "If I can do ten times more than that then I get your headband, not one off the table."

The teacher disregarded the disbelieving snort beside him took the boy up on his deal with a curt nod of the head. _Even, if he can make three, there is no way a genin can make 30._ He looked at Naruto. "Begin."

The boy concentrated, made lightning quick motions with _one_ hand and numerous puffs of smoke appeared in the room. When the smoke cleared the teachers were hard pressed to keep the jaws off the floor.

Something inched at the back of Iruka's mind so on a whim he got up and poked one of the clones in the cheek.

"Ouch!" it said.

"Huh!" was all the chuunin could say before he collected himself and found that he was counting the Naruto shadow clones. "Sorry Naruto, you lose. There are only 29 clones here."

The foxy grin never faded. "Actually there are 30 when you include me." And with that the 'original' vanished in a new puff of smoke, the rest of the clones following suit.

Back in the classroom the friends stopped talking when Naruto jerked and got a satisfied smirk.

"You pass?" Fumiko asked.

"Yip."

The rest of the class stopped when they heard feet pounding up the corridor and saw two teachers and Neji pant in the doorway.

"I won, pay up!" Naruto held his hand out to Iruka, who shook his head at his student's deviousness and laughed out loud.

The defeated ninja reached up and undid the knot on his headband and passed it to its new owner. "Well done Naruto. I'm proud of you."

The blonde put it on his forehead and turned to his friends. "How do I look?"

They all smiled, but Sasuke just had to say "Like a Dope."

They all laughed at that until Naruto cut them off. "Well I better head out now that's sorted."

"What on earth for?" Sakura enquired.

"Don't you want to see how Fumi does?" Ino teased, and then grinned when the pair in question blushed.

_Something happened_, Hinata realised as she looked from one to the other, _and I am going to find out what._

"Well, there is probably a few ANBU on their way here and I don't exactly have a good reputation with them, so I'm gonna take off." Before anyone could protest, he shuishined away.

"When did he learn to do that?" Sasuke asked no one in particular.

Within seconds of his departure, four ANBU arrived and asked where he was. They were told he was gone and that they didn't know where to. When Iruka asked what the boy had done the group had just told them to go to the roof and left. After a couple of blinks everyone in the class piled out of the door and headed to the academy's roof. Once there they looked about until Shikamaru sounded a 'troublesome'. They followed his line of sight.

Neji, Iruka and Mizuki paled while the rest erupted into laughter. The Hokage faces had been 'decorated' with bright and easily readable paint. Each face had a phrase written on it. The First had 'Tree Fucker', the Second had 'Can pump rivers', the Third's was 'Icha Icha Lover' and the Fourth had 'Can come in 0.000001 seconds'. Some of the more naive of the class were confused as to what was funny about the comments, but those that knew what was meant were finding it difficult to stay standing upright, or not have their sides split.

"How do they know it was Naruto?" Kiba finally asked when he stopped laughing long enough. "They can't have caught him doing it or he wouldn't have made it to the exam."

"Look at the Fourth's chin." Shino indicated as if pointing out the obvious.

Kiba did as he was told and saw the 'signature' painted there.

"That doesn't explain why they didn't come after him as soon as they saw it." The Inuzuka commented.

"They did." Sakura snorted "They most likely just noticed it."

Ino seized the chance to make Fumiko squirm. "You've got your hands full with that one Fumi." She taunted before she took off running, the brunette hot on her heals and using shadow clones to increase her chances of success.

Iruka saw this and knew the girl was the only one left to take the final part of the exam, so he ticked her as passed and asked Hinata to follow him back to the examination room to get a headband to give to her friend later, when she wasn't trying to decapitate the blonde girl.

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The Third walked into his office defeated. He closed the door and slumped against it with a heavy sigh. He looked up to the desk to see what paperwork was left to do.

"Have you been here the whole time?"

"Yip!" There at the Hokage's desk sat Naruto lounging back in the chair with his feet propped up onto the desktop. "You ready to get rid of a traitor?"

"Yes, but do you have to sound so excited about it?"

"The guy thinks I'm a demon, I'm just living up to his expectations. I do so hate to disappoint people." A sadistic, evil smirk crept across his face.

**I have taught you well. **Kyuubi remarked, mentally beaming. **I'm so proud. **

Naruto could just imagine the fox wiping away a fake tear, his smirk widened.

Sarutobi decided to distract the youth before his expression started to give him the creeps. "We should get going, Fumiko should have the cameras set up by now."

"You should really have her update your security system." The blonde told the old man and followed him out the room.

It only occurred to them when they had closed the door behind them that they were going to have to go to the other side of the village, so they shuishined away.

Fumiko, Kakashi and a bunch of ANBU – those that weren't exhausted in trying to find Naruto – hid in the branches of the trees a small distance away from the scroll bunker, awaiting the arrival of the Hokage. They did the best they could to come to attention considering their positions in the tree when the Third arrived, with Naruto.

Kakashi groaned. "Where did you find him?"

"My office."

Several of those gathered sweatdropped.

"Anyway...I've got the camera set up inside Gramps, I just need to pin this to Whiskers and we're all set."

"Good, because he's on his way." Naruto informed them.

"How'd you know that?" a disbelieving ANBU asked.

"My _shadow_ clone dispelled." The stated plainly.

"Hush!" the Third ordered. "He's here."

They all went silent and watched as Mizuki made his way past the security seals and traps at the entrance and headed inside.

Sarutobi locked his eyes with Naruto's and the blonde nodded before he dropped soundlessly to the ground and entered the bunker after the teacher.

"Show time..." Fumiko whispered and was the first of the group to return to the forest floor, the rest followed and waited at the entrance for the traitor and the genin.

Inside the building Mizuki had just secured the giant 'Forbidden Scroll' to his back and turned to leave, only to find Naruto blocking his path.

"So... Not only are you an asshole and a thief, you're a traitor to boot." Naruto clapped his hands in applause. "Well done Mizuki, when you get caught, you'll get killed!" his grin was full of malicious amusement. "Do you know somewhere I could pick up some popcorn before I watch the show?"

"You arrogant little Brat!" his face twisted into an evil smirk. "You think you're so amazing managing to pull off all those pranks, but you're nothing when compared to a real ninja – a real _human_!"

Naruto's eyebrows raised a smidgen and he widened his eyes just a little for added effect, he wished he had Shikamaru's button for times like this, when he had to pretend to be surprised or shocked.

Mizuki, thinking he was unsettling the genin continued. "Have you ever wondered why the whole village hates you? Why you're seen as trash everywhere you go? It's because-"

"It's because I have Kyuubi sealed inside me yada, yada, yada so on and so forth. Anyway, it's you I'm here to talk about, not me."

"You knew!" Mizuki asked stunned.

"Yes... I thought we just covered that."

**To think they let a guy this dense be a teacher. **

Naruto mentally sniggered.

"So... What ya got there?"

The ninja seemed to recover slightly and took on a confident smirk. "Well I'm going to kill you anyway, so it won't matter if I let you in on it."

Naruto clasped his hands together, held them over his chest, shrugged his shoulders together and leaned in like a girl getting the juicy gossip. "Do tell."

"Once I get this to the Great Lord Orochimaru, he will give me powers greater than any ninja that has ever lived and I will become the ultimate ninja."

"Dude, you're delusional." Naruto shook his head. "Paedo-Maru doesn't share anything fairly and do you really think he would let someone outshine his weirdness?"

Mizuki growled.

"I'm not sure I got all your deluded confession, so do you think you could go outside and say it to the Old Man?"

"The Hokage!" the ninja inhaled sharply.

The blonde nodded, grinning.

"He's outside, now?"

More nodding and a larger grin.

"Fuck!" Mizuki exclaimed and pelted past the now laughing Naruto.

**What are we? Chopped liver?**

_Looks like it..._ Naruto began humming a random tune and made his own way out to find the Hokage in the middle of an 'I'm disappointed in you' lecture. At Naruto's re-emergence from the bunker he rounded it up.

"You are a thief and a traitor to the village. We have your recorded confession to prove both of those charges." At the lack of understanding on Mizuki's face the Third elaborated. "Naruto is wearing a camera and microphone of a minuet design, which also taped your attempt to break my law and speak of the events of twelve years ago. Any of your crimes, but certainly a combination of all of them, has the penalty of death without trial."

"Oh! Oh! Let me do it!" Naruto begged, waving his hand in the air.

Mizuki turned to give the boy a death glare.

"Alright..." the Hokage agreed.

The traitor spun his wide eyes back to Konoha's leader thinking that he had lost his senses.

However, he was distracted by Fumiko calling "Smile!" and looked at her, just as she was clicking the shutter button on her pocket camera.

He blinked away the flash as he heard poofing sounds from behind him. Robotically, he faced his executioner, a 12-year-old prankster, or executioners really because there were now hundreds. With a deafening yell they charged at him, and Mizuki screamed.

The audience twitched when certain hits were landed, like the men all hissed when he was literally castrated. One of these men was a masked ANBU that had come just in case the one he owed his current happy life to needed assistance.

Itachi watched quietly with the rest and evaluated the pissed off, blonde's method. _Effective but it's not how I would have done it, except the detachment of that certain appendage._


	15. Chapter 15

Well, here's the next chap. Tis a tad longer than usual, but couldn't seem to stop typing.

Keep the reviews coming!

A huge thank you for all the positive feedback!

Though if you do decide to flame me, try to keep it mild please and remember that the purpose of fanfiction is to write the story you want, not the one that already exists.

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Chapter 15

"I can't accept these Naruto."

It was first thing in the morning a certain blonde was already giving him a headache. Before him were the official genin photographs for both Naruto and Fumiko. They were fine with their identical poses of standing straight with one hand behind their back and the other hand held up, making a 'peace' sign. The problem was that they had raided Kakashi's store of masks and donned one each and worn their headbands just like their care-giver.

"Tough Gramps! That's our photos and we ain't changing them." The boy insisted.

"Yes you are."

"Nope." Naruto was trying to find a way to wrap this up soon as he knew they had a small guest on the way. "How about this Old Man, if I can leave this room without you stopping me then you have no choice to accept them?"

_What is he up to? _The elder thought, but decided to go along with the bargain. He had learned to not underestimate the blonde, but had he done the same in turn? "I believe we have a deal."

"Good."

The joyous evil that overtook Naruto's face made Sarutobi's stomach fall through the floor.

"Just as well I know your greatest weakness." His boast was not so much for his victim, but their, not-so-secret, audience.

With a blur of hand signs Naruto yelled "Sexy Jutsu!" and was hidden in a cloud of smoke for an instant. When it was gone the boy had been replaced with a fully-blossomed teenage girl in the nude with nothing but thin wisps of smoke to retain her dignity, and the respectable Third Hokage had been replaced with a twitching, old man – on the floor – with a severe nose bleed.

"And _that's_ Jenga!" Naruto stated proud of his victory. With an evil chuckle he left the room, and deftly dodged the flying tackle of a small boy.

It had meant to be a low tackle but he had tripped on his exceedingly long scarf and was airborne.

"Not that I mind the lousy practice Brat but I have places to be, people to piss off and a girl to trick into making me pancakes."

"You have to teach me that jutsu!" He would have looked unshakably determined, if not for his quivering lip.

"Tough shit, pip-squeak, I'm busy." Naruto began to walk away, but the pressing child took hold of the tail of his orange jacket. _Shouldn't the closest pervert be here yet?_

"Honourable Grandson! There you are!"

_Speak of the bastard._

**Ask and ye shall receive...**

Naruto chuckled, gaining an odd look from the child, and a distrusting one from the adult.

"Ebisu, this guy beat the Hokage! He even said he was going to teach me the jutsu he used to do it!"

**He's a sneaky fucker ain't he?**

Naruto hid his smirk. _Just wait until we're done with him._

**I do so enjoy corrupting the young. **Laughter barked in Naruto's head.

"I highly doubt someone like this... boy... could defeat such a skilled ninja." The distain was evident in his tone, even the small boy noticed, but could only tilt his head in confusion as to why.

_Is it just me, or did he want to call me something else for a second there?_

**Nope, I heard it too. Do you think when we remove the stick from his ass we could stab it somewhere else.**

_No, _Naruto droned, _we can't kill him._

**Not kill, just mutilate a teeny bit.**

_I wish..._

Out loud, Naruto said, "You can check the office if you want. Just look for a twitching foot poking out over the top of the desk." With that the blonde waved off the two 'new' acquaintances and headed for the training field he knew was in use. All the while he knew that even though Ebisu had rushed to check on the Old Man, the boy had resolved to put his 'ninja stealth' to use.

He reached the woods just before the training ground when he finally lost his patience. "I know you're there so just stop the pathetic hiding."

Silence.

"I thought it was common knowledge that bushes didn't have feet, yet alone ninja shoes." He said flatly. _If I had been this bad at his age I would have been dead long ago._

"How clever of you to see through my disguise." The bush was dropped. "Please boss you must teach me the jutsu I need to defeat the Hokage!"

Naruto sighed. He already knew the answer to the next question, but he asked it anyway as, the way he looked at it, it had to be done. "Why do you want to beat the Old Man so much?"

"He's my Grandfather and the strongest ninja in the village. When people look at me all they see is the Honourable Grandson, so I figured if I defeated him and showed everyone I was better, they would all see me for who _I_ am – and not for where I come from."

Naruto smiled at him in gentle understanding, the kid was near tears by the end of his speech and sniffled the last few words. "Brat you have no idea who much I know what you're going through."

"How-?"

"Just trust me on that." The blonde cut him off. "I'll give you some training – a trial if you like – to see how good you can be."

"Thanks Boss! Where do we start?"

"Well first, lose the 'Boss'."

"Okay Bro!"

Naruto sighed. "Let's get to it." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, eager to pass on his 'knowledge' to the boy once more. "By the way, what actually is your name?"

"Konohamaru."

/\\ /\\

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He was proud, so very proud. He mentally swept a fake tear from his eye. Not only had Konohamaru learned the Sexy Jutsu in half the time, but the results nearly left Naruto himself with a nose bleed. He guessed the shortened time period was due to the fact he was used to the boy's learning methods and knew how best to get his point across. He looked up at the position of the sun. There was still a good few hours left before the 'test subject' was to show up.

_The training ground their using isn't that far away. _He thought and looked through the trees, beyond which some open grass could be seen. _I know he's an idiot, but surely he'll be able to make the connection that we went from here to there?_

**Don't be too sure about that. I mean, come on! The guy thinks there is a short-cut to being strong! A giant ego can only smother so many people.**

_I vaguely recall an expression about a pot and a kettle..._

**That doesn't apply. He may be deluded, but I **_**know**_** I'm awesome!**

_I'm cool too ya know!_

**Servants aren't 'cool'.**

_Servant! _

**Yes. At least when it comes to those pranks you're like a butler.**

_Dare I ask why?_

**Well, you serve up some delicious entertainment, and - in a crime - the butler **_**always**_** did it. **Kyuubi chuckled. **Now wiped that smug look of your face and say something to the kid, he's starting to look creeped out.**

Naruto gave a mental shake of his head and returned his focus to the young boy in front of him.

"I was just thinking. You got that much faster than I thought you would, so how would you like another lesson?"

"Really?" Konohamaru was nearly dancing on the spot in excitement.

Naruto nodded and indicated for his student to follow him through the trees.

"What's this lesson called Bro?"

The blonde stopped for a moment and turned back, grinning. "It's called, 'How to Kick Fate's Ass'."

/\\ /\\

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It was easy to get along with Tenten. Well it was for Fumiko at least. They both had the same balance of interest between ninja training, weapons, gossip and other girl subjects, and she was a prime prank student if Fumiko had learned to judge them as well as Naruto. For the moment the pair were discussing what weapons they preferred, well that was how it had started, they had since moved onto which would be the most effective for halting Gai and Lee's shift into 'Extreme' youthful mode. They nearly had switched when Fumiko arrived and Gai had introduced her to Lee, who of course wanted to impress her. The half-demon had already known Gai for years through her adoptive father, and had Naruto use the Transport Seal on him when he tried to replace all her clothes with green spandex suits as a 'gift'. Her fellow prankster had decided to experiment with the seals location and instead put it on a ceiling above a chair, a chair a widely regarded 'scary' ninja frequented at dinner time. In short, the teacher had landed – sporting his usual outfit minus the green skin and underwear – with his legs on either side of a ninja's lap, facing _him_, facing Ibiki.

Tenten on the other hand had come onto talking terms through the academy when the two occasionally ran into each other in the corridors. She had been secured as a friend however, when she kindly diverted a group of pissed off chuunin from the cupboard Fumiko, Ino and Hinata were hiding in.

Lee was just getting his ass handed to him when Fumiko caught the scent of Naruto approaching, along with a scent she was not familiar with at first. The pair each had different levels to their sensory sensitivity, she had three and he had four. The highest was obviously when they were in their full-fox forms, next was the half-fox forms, in their 'human' forms it was less still, but was still better than human – Fumiko's a little more so. Naruto's extra level was when Kyuubi was summoned, as when he did so he lost the ears and tail along with any boosts the fox's presence gave his senses.

She looked to where it was coming from and sure enough her whiskered friend soon emerged from the trees, with a boy wearing an odd helmet and _long_ scarf trailing behind him.

_It can't be_, Fumiko exclaimed into her mind. She recalled who Naruto said he would be meeting for the first time today. _There is just no way that little kid is Konohamaru... How does he go from a snooty brat, to the cute Naruto-look-a-like with baby fat! _She pictured the young teen she had met years before, with the outfit matching Naruto's in all but colour – it seemed only the blonde could pull off orange – with the single addition of the scarf.

"Yo!" Naruto called, getting the attention of all those present.

"Hey!" his fellow fox returned before she was drowned out by the boom of Gai.

"NARUTO!" he waved him over. "HOW YOUTHFUL OF YOU TO TAKE TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO OBSERVE MY TEAM TRAINING!"

"You don't have to shout when I'm right here." Naruto half-laughed and tried to regain the use of his ear with his finger.

Neji walked over to make his presence known. "Naruto." He greeted in a down-the-nose fashion, which Naruto mimicked mockingly to irk him.

"Neji."

"Now Naruto, I guess you have met Neji, but these are the other two members of my team." Gai waved a hand flamboyantly in Tenten's direction, to which she rolled her eyes, "This is Tenten."

She bowed her head in his direction. "So you must be the Prank Master?"

"Nope. Just an all round genius." He boasted. His grin faltered when Fumiko snorted. "What?"

"Two words." She answered. "Human Anatomy." Before their 'trip' Kakashi had told her of Naruto's theory on the 'birds and the bees' until Pervy Sage showed up.

"Bite me!" he pouted.

**She already has.**

"And over by the training post is my Youthful student Rock Lee!" Gai proudly exclaimed.

**He doesn't play favourites, does he?**

"He's a genius of hard work and it shows in his burning flames of youth!"

Due to Gai's yelling Lee looked up from the training post and saw the newcomers for the first time. He made his way over to the group to say hello, in typical Lee fashion. "Ah! A fellow Leaf Nin in the spring time of his youth, just as I am! How great it is to meet someone as youthful as me!" Lee, although never meeting Naruto knew all about the blondes exploits. "I truly wish I could be as good as you at sneaking into the Hyuuga compound in order to deposit hair colouring powder into one of the shower heads in the shower rooms. I believe Neji looked very youthful in the bright purple hair!"

"Lord Hiashi didn't like having it happen to him as well." Neji grumbled.

"He was smiling when he was posing in the mirror." Naruto replied.

"Wait a minute, you snuck into the Hyuuga compound and didn't get caught?" Tenten asked bug-eyed. "I'm impressed."

"It's not as impressive as sneaking into ANBU headquarters and stealing all the pudding," Fumiko paused to let that sink in, "then breaking in the next day and putting all the empty cups back in their place with a note saying 'remember to recycle'."

"Yosh!" Lee yelled out. "Naruto is more youthful than I am. He will be a worthy rival!"

"In order to catch up to him you will have to do a lot more training my youthful student!" Gai bellowed, fist raised in the air and tears of happiness coming down his cheeks.

"Yes Gai-Sensei, I will hop 200 laps around the village. If I cannot do that then I will do 500 push ups!"

"And if you cannot do 500 push ups then I will do 1000 punches!"

"And if you cannot do 1000 punches then I will do 2000 star jumps!"

"What a dedicated student I have for you to do so if I should fail, you truly are in the springtime of your youth!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

_Oh shit! _Thought Tenten and she swiftly turned her back to the scene with. Everyone else, bar the impressional child, did the same and shut their eyes tight.

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"You'd better follow our lead Brat if you don't want to be scarred for life." Naruto advised his student.

"Wha-?"

"For once the idiot is right. Shut your eyes and turn away." Neji enforced. This technique was enough to throw even an adults senses and thoughts off for weeks. _How did I get landed with these people?_ He thought desperately.

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

Both of them were running towards each other as if in slow motion with tears running out their eyes, arms outstretched. A movie-style dramatic sunset appeared behind them while they seemed to be running to each other on a rock. After what felt like an eternity, they finally closed the space between them and embraced fiercely. At the point of contact in the embrace strong waves crashed up the side of the rock they were standing on. The water spray matching the tears that crashed down their faces in torrents.

It was only when the 'youthful' shouts of the pair had disappeared into the distance that the remaining group unshielded their eyes.

Konohamaru also looked questioningly to his 'Bro'.

"That was the unbreakable Genjutsu of Youth." He nodded solemnly

"Scary..." the youngest of the group stated and all of them shivered.

Tenten looked at the small boy and blinked a couple of times. "I think you heard our names, but we didn't get time to catch yours."

"Ah right! I forgot!" Naruto shamefully admitted and rubbed the back of his head. "This is Konohamaru. He's my first student."

Neji snorted in the background but he was ignored for the moment.

"Nice to meet you Konohamaru." Tenten greeted, followed by Fumiko.

"Same here!" the boy beamed. Naruto had made no mention of who his family were, as if it was of no importance, and he liked it.

Another cough was heard from the side, louder than before. The others groaned, they would have to stop ignoring the self-important youth at some point, but their new friend was their saving grace from boredom.

"Dude, what's up with you?" he asked Neji, but on closer inspection tilted his head to Tenten. "That _is_ a dude right?" he asked non too quietly.

It was difficult to tell what was louder. Naruto's roar of laughter or Neji's equally roar-like "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Oh come off it." Naruto smirked. "You know he has a point. In fact I still have some of that powder and I'm sure Hinata could find a dress to fit you."

Surprisingly, the Hyuuga chose not to reply to the taunt, but ground his teeth instead.

"3." Tenten whispered to no one in particular.

"With the right pair of heels no one would be able to tell the difference." Naruto pushed forward with the taunting and Neji's fingers twitched.

"2." Tenten continued to whisper. Fumiko and Konohamaru leaned in close.

"What's the countdown for?" Fumiko asked the girl with twin buns on her head.

"It's until he explodes."

"Cool." The small boy commented causing the girls to giggle.

Back with Naruto. "For a clan with x-ray vision, you have shit surveillance."

Neji clenched his fists.

"1."

"I'm curious. Are you that pale from eating chalk? I heard you have a fetish."

A vein throbbed on Neji's forehead.

"And Boom." Tenten stated quietly.

"UZUMAKI YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Let's go, Fate's Bitch."

With that the two flew towards each other in an impromptu fight, and it soon became apparent to both Neji and Tenten that Naruto was not going to go down as easily as most people thought. He was dodging each and every one of Neji's palm strikes, and every time he did land a hit, it turned out to be a shadow clone.

There was a small 'poof' noise to Tenten's right and she turned to investigate. She nearly sweatdropped when she saw Fumiko unsealing popcorn and m&m's from a small storage seal on her left wrist. "What? No ice-cream?" She wanted to laugh when she realised that the cunning pair of pranksters had planned on goading Neji into a fight from the beginning.

"Not today, sorry."

:Flashback:

It was the previous evening.

Fumiko and Kakashi walked into their home with their arms laden with groceries. Upon entering the kitchen it was no surprise to find Sasuke sitting at the table as he often joined them for dinner, neither was the presence of Itachi a shock as he made a habit of visiting every once in a while – if far less so than his younger brother. It also wasn't unusual to find they had already raided the fridge for snacks. However, what they had eaten was, as they had only just started to buy the small pots of ice-cream in an effort to control the vast quantity the two teenage residents tended to consume of it.

The new arrivals halted in their tracks when they spotted the now empty cartons. Sasuke was in the middle of licking his pink lid and Itachi was just about to dispose of his lid.

"Itachi," Fumiko asked rather sweetly, "What colour of lid is that?"

He blinked for a couple of seconds at the rather disturbing smile the girl wore, then tilted his wrist to show the perfect green circle of the pot lid.

Kakashi and Sasuke froze in horror.

Itachi shot them a questioning glance.

Fumiko gracefully stepped forward, placed her shopping bags on the table, gently – but firmly – took hold of Itachi's wrist and said in a deadly-sweet tone, "I forgot there was something I wanted you to have a look at."

With only the slightest hint of worry in his face he followed her obediently from the room.

When they were gone, the two terrorised ninja they left behind looked to one another.

"Shouldn't you try to save him? You know what she's going to do." Kakashi asked.

"There are some fates no one can be saved from."

Kakashi groaned. "You sound like Neji. Anyway...wanna watch?"

"Hell Yeah!" Sasuke replied and they made a dash to follow the judge and her victim...to the garden...

Peeking out from opposite sides of the door frame, they exchanged curious glances, wasn't the Transport Seal outside the front door?

They watched as Fumiko pointed to something to the side of the tree and Itachi turned away to look at it. After a couple of seconds he turned back and Kakashi and Sasuke could see the confusion on his face, then surprise at Fumiko's stance with her hands held in an unfamiliar position. The on lookers knew Itachi was fast to react to danger, but he was already done for.

Poof.

Itachi was gone. Well at least his body was. His clothes lay crumpled on the ground.

In a similar puff of smoke Itachi reappeared naked with nothing but a pair of fake dog ears on his head and a fake dog tail tied to his waist. It was actually very appropriate for his new location – the middle of the Inuzuka training grounds, at the exact time Hana Inuzuka was training. The puff of smoke had caught her attention, and what had appeared held it.

:End Flashback:

Tenten and Konohamaru gulped loudly as Fumiko recounted her reasons for there being no ice-cream. They wanted to laugh, but suddenly feared the girl's vengeance, so thought better of it and settled down to watch the match between Naruto and Neji, or what was left of it anyway.

Naruto had kept dodging Neji's palm strikes, but also kept following it up with a taunt, or two, thus pissing the Hyuuga off further and ensuring he would use his energy out of anger. To anyone else, this would have been a pointless tactic with the boy being renowned for staying calm, but Naruto had years-worth of memories of Neji – and just how to push his buttons.

The audience munched away and watched. The only things getting beaten up were the ground and Neji's energy reserves, much to his dislike. With a scream of frustration he lashed out with another strike, but this one connected.

The spectators gasps as Naruto was fired into the ground amidst a cloud of dust and rubble. When it cleared everyone leaned forward in open-mouthed astonishment, even Neji. There, in a small crater, was Naruto, face down in the dirt and not moving.

Everyone gaped until Neji slowly started to laugh. "Haha. See you can't change Fate. It will always be your destiny to lose, and mine to win!

Tenten sighed heavily and shook her head in shame. _There he goes again...great...another boost to his ego._

"So this is what Bro meant when he said it was a lesson on Fate." Konohamaru realised.

The girls shared a puzzled look. "What kind of lesson?" Fumiko asked.

She was about to receive an answer when there was a feral roar from Neji's direction, but it was dulled somewhat for some unknown reason.

They all snapped their heads back to the fight just in time to see Naruto erupt from the ground under Neji's feet and catch his chin from below with a solid punch. It was then Neji's turn to take flying lessons and soar through the air and land flat on his back.

His defeat only just managed to register in his brain before he passed out.

Naruto however turned to the three thoroughly stunned observers and gave them an enthusiastic 'peace' sign, along with an unbeatable grin.

"No freaking way..." Tenten couldn't believe it.

"And that's How to Kick Fate's Ass." Naruto told Konohamaru as he approached them. He looked to the sky and smirked at Fumiko. "I win."

"We already know you did...wait...Tenten let me see your watch!" she didn't wait for her friends consent and grabbed her wrist to inspect the time device. "This is soooo not fair..." she whimpered.

"Huh?" Tenten questioned to Naruto.

"I bet her that if I beat Neji before 3:30 she would have to cook me an entire batch of fresh pancakes."

Fumiko whimpered again and the group laughed.

They were soon interrupted by the appearance of Ebisu.

"Honourable Grandson!"

"Who's the weirdo?" Tenten jerked her thumb in the newcomer's direction.

"Just that." Naruto said flatly. "A weirdo."

Ebisu heard him. "Silence you...child!"

**There was that hesitation again...**

_Just remember that he gets better over time._

**You talking to me or yourself there?**

_Dunno. I'm pretty close to hitting him myself._

A disgruntled snort brought Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Come Honourable Grandson! We must leave these people before they rub off on you."

"Hey." Naruto smirked devilishly at Konohamaru, who instantly caught onto what his 'master' was thinking. "Why don't we show him what you've learned?"

"Sure thing Bro!"

Before the unsuspecting man could protest, there was dual cries of "Sexy Jutsu!" and two very attractive, and very naked, teenage girls were before him posing. He rocked backwards a little, and got a small nose bleed, but that was all and was easily wiped away with a handkerchief.

Konohamaru sighed in defeat and de-transformed, but Naruto knew how to win the day.

"Harem Jutsu!" he called out and instantly there were at least 50 fem-Narutos pouncing on Ebisu.

The idiot had no chance of survival and, when the clones 'poof'ed out of existence and the smoke cleared, he was revealed to be twitching in a pool of his own blood, faintly muttering "boobies" on the random occasion.

When what had just happened finally hit them Konohamaru yelled out "AWESOME!" and the girls descended into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. When they recovered Tenten indicated Neji.

"I think I should take the newly reformed 'Fate Follower' home." She said and made her way over to her teammate.

"Not just yet." Naruto stopped her and he made his own way to his defeated opponent's side, followed by Fumiko.

Konohamaru was happy to be left poking his teacher with a stick to see if more blood would come out.

Tenten gave Naruto a guarded look as he removed the Neji's headband to expose the Caged Bird Seal.

He looked at it closely.

"What are you doing?" Tenten asked a little nervous. She could tell Naruto wasn't a bad person, but she didn't know him well enough to trust him too much.

"You gotta be kidding me!" he exclaimed, he either ignored or didn't hear her question. "This is piss easy to get rid of...and for anyone to activate. Damn, people can be so clueless!"

Tenten could hear the aggravation in his voice and frowned. She got ready to pull him away at a moment notice, but Fumiko's hand on her shoulder stopped her, along with the gentle smile accompanying it.

"He knows what he's doing." She reassured her friend.

A small flash of light caught both their attention.

Tenten's eyes grew wide when she looked at her teammate and saw the seal was gone. "What have you done!" she insisted.

"Shhh." He said gently. The soft look in his eyes had her choke on her next outburst. "I have to do this while he's unconscious." He reached down and slipped his right hand behind Neji's neck. Focusing chakra to his fingertips, or his nails to be specific, he cut the new seal into the skin. When it was complete, he retrieved his hand and went through a series of insanely fast hand motions before returning it to the back of the neck and called out with all his determination "SEAL!"

There was another flash of light and Neji cried out in pain for a few seconds before it died down and he rested peacefully.

Naruto sat back and sighed loudly. "Finally!" he stretched his arms above his head. "That took a lot out of me!"

Fumiko giggled at his antics. She turned to the frozen from of Tenten. "Don't worry." She comforted with a hand on her shoulder. "He just replaced the Caged Bird Seal with one that will protect the Byakugan in every way, but will not be able to be used to inflict pain and separate the Branch family from the main house."

"And all the Hyuuga clan can get it." Naruto finished for her.

Before either of them could take another breath, Tenten had launched herself at Naruto and was crushing him in a hug.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

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They all sat at the Hatake dining table in the main room. The 'all' being Kakashi, Naruto, Fumiko and Tenten – who Fumiko had decided to invite over for dinner, the fact that it meant less pancakes for Naruto had nothing at all to do with it, really...

They were all laughing at poor Neji's unwanted lesson in Fate when there was a hasty knock at the front door and Naruto got up to answer it. A few moments after he was gone there was the sound of mumbles, and the combined effects of having her fox ears hidden and chewing on crunchy food meant that Fumiko didn't hear a word of it. So she had no warning when an elegantly dressed woman leapt into the room and landed with her arms firmly round Fumiko's neck.

With a twist of her neck she could see who is was and would have yelled out had she been able to breath, so Kakashi did it for her.

"Lady Mikoto!"

However, she took no notice of him and started to actually cry into Fumiko's neck.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she cried.

"For what?" the fox-girl squeezed out the side of her mouth.

"For whatever you did to Itachi! I was so worried he was asexual or something. He showed no interest in anyone, male or female. Then he goes missing for a night, comes home in Inuzuka clothing – all ruffled – and grinning like a madman!" she yelled the last part into Fumiko's ear and apologised quietly when she saw the girl wince, letting go just a little, but not enough to lose her grip on the girl's neck. "Now he's taking that Inuzuka girl on a date tomorrow! It's a dream come true! My eldest son isn't an emotional brick! He has hormones!" she kissed Fumiko on both cheeks. "You ever need anything, you just let me know!"

And with that she was gone from the house, leaving three dumbfounded – and one thoroughly distraught - ninja behind her.


	16. Chapter 16

A huge thank you for the ace number of reviews lately!

All feedback and suggestions are taken on board, and believe me when I say the fumi/naru pairing will be developing more from now on, but remember that the pairings that take a little bit to come about are the funniest.

Please Read & Review!

Enjoy!

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><p>\\ /\\

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Chapter 16

It was finally the day of the teacher assignments, but no one was expected at the academy for several hours as the vast majority of Konoha was still in deep slumber. Even the birds slept, so the household of three could not fathom why someone was awake at this damned hour, yet alone banging on their door as if the world was about to end. The near comatose Naruto was dragged from his swim in delightfully hot ramen back into the world of the living and entered the upstairs hallway at the same time as the other two occupants of the house. Bleary red eyes met their equals in a silent argument as to who was to have the pleasure of killing the guest with a death wish. A tired sniff told Naruto of their guest, or rather guests, identities.

With a lopsided smirk of triumph Fumiko explained it to Kakashi. "It's for Whiskers." She then promptly slithered back into her room and shut the door.

"Have fun..." Kakashi yawned. Once he had returned to his own room the banging increased in volume and frequency.

**If you let that noise give me a headache I promise I will give you one you'll never forget... **Kyuubi barked.

Naruto flinched at the louder than normal voice. _How will you do that? _It was way too early for this kind of thing.

**Sing non-stop.**

_If we just pretend we're not here they'll go away. _The noise increased again.

**I've got a lovely bunch o' coconuts. **The fox sang in Naruto's head.

The blonde paled.

**There they are standing in a row.**

"ALRIGHT!" he boomed aloud and jumped when he was answered by a sound thump on the other side of both Fumiko and Kakashi's doors. With a huff and balled fists he headed down stairs. He nearly fell down the last half, still semi-asleep, when Kyuubi spoke up.

**Erm...Kit? You forgetting something...?**

Naruto drew a blank as he stopped in thought at the bottom of the stairs.

**I'll give you a clue – they're furry.**

"Shit!" he cursed when realisation hit him and easily brought up the genjutsu. With a lunge at the door he yanked it open. "What?" he asked obviously irate, but words then failed him when he looked at the two guests before him.

There stood a rather panicked Neji and an extremely disgruntled and poorly dressed Hinata.

Naruto was speechless as he looked from one to the other.

Neji swiftly stepped behind his cousin and shoved her towards Naruto. "Do her!" he demanded. "Give her the seal!"

_It is way too early for this..._

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He yawned for what felt like the thousandth time and tried for the thousandth time to avoid Iruka's pissed off glare at his obvious lack of attention.

**You should have known that as soon as he read that note explaining what you had done to him and realised just what it meant he would hunt you down to verify that it was true.**

_I know that. _Naruto grumbled in his head as he rubbed more sleep from his eyes. _That's why I put seals on those ropes. I should have made the time delay longer._

**Don't you find it odd that you question how long he should have been tied up****, instead of if it was wrong to tie up an unconscious ninja and leave him sitting on his own front step?**

_Call it pay back for the Fate lectures for the past few years._

**I think they got that from the 'Naruto kicked Fate's ASS' sign you left hanging round his neck.**

Tired or not, Naruto chuckled. He had made that sign over 3 weeks ago, painstakingly painting the Chibi Naruto making the peace symbol.

This time a glare wasn't enough, as an eraser hurled towards his head. He casually lowered his head to the desk and the projectile sailed over the top, but not before he smirked at his teacher. The chuunin had already guessed that his blonde student was better than he let on, but that wasn't going to stop him trying.

**Sometimes you deserve to be hit.**

_What makes you say that? You're right, but I'm still curious._

**That Hyuuga girl is traumatised.**

_What__, because her cousin who doesn't talk to her much dragged her to my house so early? I doubt it._

**No... When he did pounce to drag her away she was in the shower.**

_Don't worry. We have taught her well. She'll get back at him somehow._

**Good point.**

By this stage Iruka had announced the majority of the teams and was about to announce the next one.

"Team 7 will be comprised of Sasuke Uchiha, Fumiko Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki." He would have moved onto the following group, as it was no surprise to him – along with most of the others in the room – of Team 7's make-up, but the gaping confusion on both Naruto and Fumiko's faces caused him to pause. "What?" he enquired.

"What about Sakura?" Naruto blurted regardless to the swift kick to his shin from Fumiko.

Poor Sakura went as pink as her hair when everyone turned their gaze to her for an explanation as to Naruto's confusion. Ever the good teacher, Iruka decided to help his distressed student out.

"Sakura has been offered a placement at the hospital because of the potential she has shown in medical ninjutsu. She will join teams when they require medical assistance."

Class members started to whisper amongst themselves, the dumbfounded duo looked stupidly at each other and Sasuke sent a reassuring glance to Sakura, which was caught by Ino – it seemed her best friend had some explaining to do. It appeared the Uchiha was not surprised by the news, neither was she, but she wanted to know why.

His class had never been a quite one, so Iruka continued with the team lists until they were all announced. Once done he made to start a 'farewell and be safe speech' but no one was listening so he raised his voice in hope of being heard. "Your new teachers will be here soon so just wait until they get here."

Without a single response, he sighed a dejected "Bye" and started to shuffle from the room, scuffing his feet. However, when he reached the door he nearly tripped over his own feet at the resounding "THANK YOU SENSEI!" that erupted from his students.

He grinned and waved at them before quickly turning and exiting the classroom. _They really are great kids, but if they caught me crying right now they would never let me forget it. _With a soft backwards glance at the closed door, he smiled. He was proud of them, _every one_ of them, no matter what anyone else said.

As soon as Iruka was gone, Naruto and Fumiko exchanged glances. With a quick side glace at Sakura, they nodded to each other and motioned her over. The pinkette was glad of the excuse to escape Ino's pressing questions.

"Hey" she greeted when she reached them.

"Yo!" Naruto greeted back until a devilish grin lit his face and he stood from his place beside Sasuke, moved to the side, took hold of her shoulders and manoeuvred her to sit in his recently vacated seat.

Her only hint of protest was the tiny squeak of surprise at the final push to make her sit. Even with that, the small smile at the side of her face away from the Uchiha told a different story.

"What are you two up to now?" Sasuke suspiciously asked his best friend trying not to squirm nervously in his seat.

"Nothing bad!" the blonde hastily defended himself. "Just wondering if Sakura would wait with us until our teacher gets here." He shifted his eyes to Sakura's pale green ones. "Would you please?" he asked.

"Sure, but why? The teachers are starting to arrive."

"We have plenty of time." He assured her.

"How'd you figure that?" Sasuke quipped.

"Look at the girl on our team." Naruto instructed the pair.

They looked at Fumiko, who was busy giving Naruto the evils for giving their friends the long answer and not the short – less embarrassing – one.

"Good. Now remember who is more protective of her than anyone else-"

They gave him a pointed look.

"-not me, and would rather burn his favourite books than let someone else teach her."

Realisation dawned on their faces.

"In that case," Sasuke said, "we have hours to kill."

"Yes we do." Fumiko interjected, elbowing Naruto in the ribs. "Which is plenty of time to explain something to Sakura and ask a favour of her."

"That's right." Her friend confirmed deliberately rubbing his side. To which her only answer was to stick out her tongue.

"Anytime you guys." Sakura said in jest and the pair looked down with pink tinges of their cheeks.

Soon all the other teams had been collected and Sakura was to simply report to the hospital the next day, so they were going to be on their own for a little while. As this had been what they had been waiting for Naruto started what he had wanted to do for a while now – explain to her about the Kyuubi being sealed in him, that he is merged with him, his parentage and Fumiko's story. Basically everything minus the time jump with edited versions of how they met and how Naruto and Kyuubi came to be merged.

When it came to Fumiko's story they told of her life with her parents, their murders and that the trauma of her home and life in ruins caused her to black out until she was found wondering outside the village by Kakashi.

By the time both back stories had been told, and believed with the visual aids of two sets of fox ears and tails, with which Naruto had again been chased around the room as neither of the other two wanted to chance the warning in Fumiko's face, Naruto was crouching – paranoid – in the corner of the room with a looming Sasuke while the girls chatted and giggled at the boys' antics. The Uchiha could never resist the rare opportunity to finally catch hold of Naruto's tail. To feel it's fur was now on the 'wanted' list of the friends in the know, along with catching sight of Kakashi's unmasked face.

"What was the favour you wanted?" the pink-haired girl asked after another fit of the giggles. She wouldn't admit it, but she had been slightly hurt that her two friends had not trusted her with this information sooner. However, it was the kind of information that really was on a need to know basis. That explained why Sasuke already knew, as he and Naruto were more brothers than friends, but not as to why they had decided to tell her now.

"Oh yeah!" Fumiko laughed and turned her full attention to the pinkette. "Well... both Naruto and I have every faith that you will be one of the best medic ninjas ever, and you're one of the few people we trust with our secrets, so we were hoping you would kinda be our personal medic..." she hesitated. "Would you please do it?" she pleaded with her head bowed and hands held up in prayer.

Sakura was stunned for a moment, but a smile slowly formed on her face. That smile slowly turned to a beaming grin. They believed in her, believed she could do something better than others if she put her mind to it and kept working hard. She had thought she was always average at best, but she knew Fumiko wouldn't lie about something like that. She nodded, then laughed that her friend hadn't seen the movement with her still head bowed.

"I'll do it." She told her elatedly.

The other girl's head shot up, face split into a grin and dove into a firm hug.

"She said 'yes' Whiskers!" Fumiko called across the room.

Naruto jumped into the air with a "Woohoo!" and hid his fox extras, much to the annoyance of Sasuke. "Now, onto the next point of business." He stated grabbing an eraser from the board and wedging it in the doorway. With a nod of approval he turned back to them and, not answering their questioning glances, pulled out two decks of cards. "Anyone for Shithead?"

The hasty arrangement of stools around a table was answer enough.

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The pair sat atop Fumiko's bed, as her room was decidedly tidier – not to mention cleaner – than Naruto's, plotting how to get back at their adoptive parent/guardian for not informing them sooner of the arrangement of their new team, even though it had been settled weeks before.

Said adoptive parent/guardian was sitting in the living room trying to read his favourite chapter but the constant shivers running up his spine were making it extremely difficult. It certainly didn't help that those shivers were never a good omen.

If they hadn't been so busy trying to figure out a plan the young teens would have noticed Fumiko's increasingly frequent shifts in position. It was only when she made to rub the base of her back that the brunette noticed the movement and a slight pull on her other senses caused her to give a small gasp, followed by a disheartened groan.

Naruto gave her a hopeful look at the gasp, but the groan paired with her pained expression made the hope change to worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I suppose my freedom could never last forever." She answered more to herself than him.

He focused on his senses, but she cut him off.

"Sniff and I swear I'll cut something off!" she growled.

He stopped breathing, but there was only so long he could keep it up. His lungs needed air. He breathed in deeply, his eyes went wide and his cheeks went red.

"You could have breathed in through your mouth!" she pouted and mock-punched him on the shoulder.

He muttered an apology. "Have you got," he gestured to her south half, "you know?"

"Of course!" she squeaked, embarrassed, before a look of pure devilment washed over her face. "But Papa-Kashi doesn't know that."

Naruto quickly caught on. "Should I make myself scarce?"

"Only for a couple of blocks."

"Remember Hinata is coming round about dinner time."

"I know." She looked at her clock. "This shouldn't take too long."

30 minutes later Naruto caught up with his favourite 'work colleague' a couple of street blocks from their home and joined her in her observations, and poorly controlled laughter. The object of their amusement: An S-rank Kakashi Hatake walking like a robot to the pharmacy, bumping into several people trying to enter the 'woman's' aisle with his eyes closed and reach out a hand to the tampons. It was then that luck seemed to smile on the conspirators and a yell was heard from the other side of the store.

"WHY IT'S MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" Gai was at Kakashi's side in an instant and inspected where the other man's hand was reaching. "So I see that Fumiko has entered her springtime of youth! I had to buy those for Tenten when she too started on her youthful journey 2 months ago!"

Kakashi looked horrified at having been caught shopping for tampons, the shoppers pretended to have not heard a thing even though people were turning their heads all the way down the street and the terrible twosome found they were all that was holding each other up. The silver-haired new mental patient went with the idea that this was one of those times when you had to try your damnedest to pretend you had no clue Gai was even there and go about your business as fast as possible.

With his trademark speed, the father-figure grabbed the cursed box, dashed to the checkout, slammed down more than enough money and fled the store as if the Hounds of Hell were on his heels – or he had stolen his summons' favourite toy.

When the plotting pair finally recovered their ability to see straight and stand up on their own they did a flamboyant high-five in the street, ignoring the onlookers who gave them odd looks or glares.

Fumiko glanced at her watch. "Shit!" she shrieked. "Hina is goin to be at ours any minute and I haven't even started dinner." She grabbed his hand and pulled him after her at top walking speed back home. She may not have realised that it appeared as if they were a couple holding hands until they got home, but the permanent blush on Naruto's face betrayed that he had noticed – and made no action to stop her.

Dinner itself was rather uneventful and the after dinner activities consisted of Naruto giving Hinata the new seal then promptly passing out, having not had the rest he needed the previous night, the Hyuuga heiress being carried to the make-up bed in Fumiko's room, as they had arranged a 'sleep over', and patting Kakashi on the head with a quiet warning to not keep them out of the loop like that again.


	17. Chapter 17

next chap!

i'm working on the wave chaps just now, well when i can stop laughing.

Please Review! I love feedback.

Enjoy!

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><p>\\ /\\

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Chapter 17

Where most people would have been ready to blow a fuse by this point, team 7 were putting the predictability of their teacher to good use. Sometimes it was a good thing that he tended to be late, but that didn't make it any less annoying. Naruto told them it was going to be a test of their teamwork, so as a team they came up with a plan. When it was settled on what they were all to do they had enough time for a few snacks before Kakashi arrived at the bridge and led them to the training ground.

After the explanation he expected them all to come at him and they did, but it wasn't the bells on his belt they were after. He only realised this when Sasuke made a grab for his book. With slight panic, he swung backwards and with three deft kicks he knocked his opponents away. The children glared from where they had each landed as Kakashi clutched his precious possession to his chest with both arms, only to have it vanish in a puff of smoke a second later. He blinked at his empty hands before his eye gradually opened in fear as it lifted to the grinning blonde waving the stolen item in his hand. His heart dropped when he saw that Fumiko was also waving a book, but it was his prized first edition.

"A book for a bell." Naruto taunted.

Kakashi sighed heavily. He should have seen this coming a mile off, but he had thought they would have relished the chance to try and beat the shit out of him, rather than trick others to do it for them. He took the bells from his belt and threw the pair one each as he walked over. They caught them and inspected them to ensure they were the real and grinned, a little too wide, as they handed the books over. Once the exchange was over they winked at Sasuke and promptly leapt away into the trees, again leaving the poor ninja to blink in surprise as the books went up in smoke.

Extremely fed up and on the verge of tears, Kakashi turned to the young Uchiha.

There he sat; with two books in one hand, and a small fire in the other.

Kakashi's eye started to twitch as he stared at the smokeless flame, mere inches from his priceless treasures.

"While you took your sweet time to get here this morning," Sasuke started in a sneaky tone, "Naruto informed us what would be happening today."

"How did he find out?" Kakashi stalled. He knew fine well how.

"He wouldn't say, but we decided that either we all pass and you get your books back, or we all fail and the tainted pages turn into kindling."

A small smiled pulled on Kakashi lips under the mask. "Well...you just did."

"Did what?"

"Pass."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"All three of us?"

"Damn it!" Kakashi exclaimed. "You hang about those two way too much!" he lunged forward. "No gimme my books!" he whined, very much like a child wanting more candy than it was allowed. What he hadn't bet on was for all of Sasuke to go 'poof' too. "WHAT THE HELL!"

There was a snort behind him and he whirled on his heels, ready to commit murder, but was stopped in his tracks by the three new genins before him.

Each had his two books strapped to their waists, and were reading a book of their own choosing in the same fashion as their new teacher. Sasuke seemed deep in thought at the contents of 'Dating for Dummies', Naruto appeared to be drooling at '1001 Ramen Recipes' and Fumiko was barely controlling her giggles at a romantic/comedy manga.

"Where are they?" Kakashi strained out, some murderous intent had seeped into his voice.

Naruto looked up and said in an uninterested tone, "You'll have to catch each of us and see."

If it had been anyone other than Naruto and a couple of his closest friends it would have been nowhere near a challenge, even to a chuunin, but this _was_ Naruto and his two closest friends. This was not going to be easy.

With a deep breath the hunt began.

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The trio looked like the living dead as they awaited the arrival of their orders. Kakashi was in no better shape, but he had taken off as soon as he had what he wanted. They rose from their private thoughts at the sweet aroma of the divine ramen. To at least two of them it was without a doubt the food of the Gods, but the third would have rather had Fumiko's tomato pasta dish. The homely food brightened their spirits and they soon forgot their tiredness, that is until Naruto and Fumiko returned home and the blonde released a depressed groan.

Fumiko blinked at him. "What's the matter? We're official ninjas now. I know it's nothing new to you, but I can't believe how happy I am. Sore, but happy."

"It's not that." He held his hands up in mock defence with a tiny quirk of the lips, but made a dramatic frown. "It's just that I'm back to doing D-Rank missions again."

"They can't be that bad."

"Just you wait..." he warned her and waved as he headed off to bed. He couldn't wait for the day that he got his body back into peak physical condition.

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He knew it would happen, he just knew it, but here he was exiting the Hokage tower with his team and teacher with the legendary assignment of...catching Tora, the cat from Hell.

Just as they started to make their way through the streets to the furry monster's last known location, and Naruto was ready to feign illness, a small movement caught his eye. Looking in that direction he saw a second projectile embed itself in the wall of a dango stand. It wasn't hard for him to guess who was disposing of their dango sticks in such a fashion.

"Can you guys take care of this one?" He asked the others, but didn't wait for a reply before he said, "Really? Thanks! Bye!" and hastily departed.

The others cast quizzical glances at one another before shrugging their shoulders and continuing to make their way to the destination.

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She reached for more delectable dango, but her fingers grasped at nothing but air. She turned to investigate their whereabouts and found a genin grinning like an idiot. She replied with her own grin, but this one screamed with ill-intent.

"Nice try at a joke brat, but take my scrummy dango again and I'll detach each and every one of your limbs." She had to stop herself from staring. Unlike most people she had shown such an expression to, who had either been ready to run for the hills, or were seriously wishing they could, the brat's honest grin only got wider.

"Aw...and here I was going to offer something you'd like better than dango..." he pushed the dish back towards her and made to stand up from his crouch at the side of the table.

He had only risen two inches when her hand shot out and hauled him into the seat beside her.

"You're the brat that stays with the Cyclops ain't ya?"

"Yip."

"Huh. What you offering?"

_Same old Anko...straight to the point._

**But you've got to love that about her. It's irritating when people beat around the bush.**

_Good point._

"Yo Brat! You sane?" Anko snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Yeah." He blinked and waved her hand away. "Just wondering if you're gutsy enough for the deal I'm proposing." He smirked. When in doubt with Anko, imply she's weak.

Her eyebrow twitched in anger. "And what, pray tell, are you proposing?"

"Simple." He answered. "You let me study the Paedo's seal on your neck," she sucked in her breath, "and be my guinea pig for getting rid of it, and needless to say I'll remove it for you."

Regaining her composure, Anko glared flatly at him. "What would you know of seals? And how did you know about mine?"

"It came up in my research," a little white lie wouldn't hurt, "and I know enough to have come up with, and implement, a working replacement for the Caged Bird seal." He leaned his head against his hand, slouching across the table.

Anko had to admit that even she had heard rumours of a seal master within the academy over the last few years, considering a decent percentage of the reported pranks included the use of seals, some rather advanced, and others that had never been heard of. Then it clicked. She held up her hand to further mute her whisper and made to confirm her suspicions. "I'm guessing you're the one behind those pranks at the academy."

Naruto grinned and she burst out laughing. The brat may not have known it, but he was already a legend.

"It's nice to have friends to help you out too."

Anko continued laughing, but made a mental note to never piss either Naruto, or his friends, off. Once she had quietened down she agreed to the blonde's deal, safe in the knowledge that he actually knew what he was doing. "You pull this off kid and I'm your friend for life."

It was at that very moment that Iruka walked past and, upon spotting Naruto, waved. While Naruto happily waved back, he noticed Anko stare at the teacher and move slightly to hide behind him. Without a thought he added another project to his list.

"I can help you get with Iruka too."

She looked like a kid in a candy shop that had just been offered all the sweets she could eat. "Manage that and I'll be your faithful minion." With that Naruto had made himself another ally.

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Later Naruto met back up with his team and informed them of the new development, or tried to until he was distracted by the quivering ball of fur in Sasuke's arms.

"Is that who I think it is?" he asked Fumiko but she looked away sheepish, so he turned to Kakashi.

"Well it wouldn't stop hissing and scratching whenever they actually managed to catch it, so eventually my angel here ran out of patience."

Naruto's eyebrows knitted together as he looked back to Fumiko, but she still had her head turned in the other direction. Finally he looked to Sasuke.

"You Dope. He means that she got pissed off, went full fur and scared the living shit out the flea-bag." He smirked deviously. "Was pretty cool actually." He twisted his head to the girl embarrassed that she had lost her temper big time. "You think you could do that when the fangirls come after us?"

She was about to silence him with a thud to the head, but Kakashi cut her shot. "She already chases the competition away from Naruto."

She squeaked.

"Really?" both boys asked.

"Yip." He took off running with his hands in his pockets

"PAPA!" Fumiko squealed and tore after him.

The boys exchanged a glace and followed at a slower pace; Sasuke with a soft laugh and Naruto with a light blush.

By the time they caught up with them, they had reached the Hokage tower. Fumiko was wearing a satisfied smile, although she was deliberately avoiding Naruto's eyes, but Kakashi was sporting a new lump on his head.

The Fire Lord's wife was ecstatic with the enthusiastic affection the monster kitty showed her when returned to her possession. For once it couldn't be happier to see her...and escape the scary fox girl. Naruto was also delighted at the cat's behaviour. It meant that the tedious mission of hunting it down would be scrubbed for a good while.

Smiling at the turn of events he felt someone's eyes one him and turned to catch Fumiko smiling too, but as soon eyes their eyes met she quickly looked away with rather pink cheeks, as did Naruto.

**You'll need to try harder Romeo. **Kyuubi sniggered.

_Sod off fur ball._

**Would be glad to if you let me out tonight.**

_I said I would, but if you say anything to Fumi about this conversation, or anything perverted, you will be getting shaved!_

**Jeez...fine...Spoil-sport. You had better make a move soon though. She's growing into a real vixen.**

_What are you talking about? She's always been gorgeous, even before we got here._

Silence from Kyuubi.

Panic from Naruto.

The fox erupted into victorious laughter in the distraught boy's head. **There's no denying it now Kit.**

_Shit...One furry word from you while you're out and you're getting roasted on a spit and fed to Pakkun!_

Needless to say Kyuubi never did mention a thing about Naruto's realisation the entire two days he was released from the boy's mind.


	18. Chapter 18

Super sorry for the delay!

Been both ill and doubly busy with college AND work!

Promise a double length chapter next week!

Please review!

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><p>\\ /\\

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Chapter 18

The next few weeks were rather laid back for the new genins and their teachers, but not for the poor Hokage. Because of Naruto's disguised method of helping his friends train well before graduation, the mission management staff were hard pressed to find enough D-Rank missions to keep all the teams occupied and the Third was determined not to cave and allow new genins to do C-Rank missions – time travellers or not.

Naruto knew it was going to be another short while before the Wave mission came up, he had Anko keeping a subtle look out for the mission request, so he spent his spare time the same as he had done the last time he was this age, including the occasional ramen with Iruka. That is, with the alteration of hanging out with friends instead of chasing Sakura, the additions of studying Anko's seal, the constant onslaught by a demon in his head to admit certain things to a certain someone and the increased sensitivity of that person's location and actions.

**You really are an idiot if you think guys won't notice her soon. **Kyuubi tried yet another plan of attack. He was already set on seeing the Kit with no one else but the fast growing Vixen. **Especially with that new outfit doing her plenty of favours, and not even needing the-**

Poof! The mental barrage was cut off with a hasty summoning jutsu.

"What was that for?" Kyuubi asked confused. "I'm always glad to stretch my legs, well to actually have legs, but why?"

"So you can either be piss off or be skinned!" Naruto ground out. His head was still pounding from his lodger's constant pestering. "At this point I don't care which." With a final squint of his eyes, he rolled over onto his stomach on the Den's couch and made a point of ignoring Kyuubi's presence.

"Fine!" the fox huffed. "I'll take the first option." He twitched his tails and all but one were hidden from view then exited the Den via the training room balcony.

After the departure Naruto sighed heavily, whether from relief or frustration he wasn't sure. One thing he was sure of though was that Kyuubi was making a very valid point. He knew he cared for Fumiko as more than a friend or sister, but something was stopping him. It may have been that they were technically only 12-years-old, or that it might have an effect in their teamwork, perhaps that there were going to face some tough battles and he didn't want either of them to finally have someone only to lose them, or maybe a combination of all of the above.

He knew she was dear to him, probably more so than anyone else and, _for now, that is enough. Isn't it?_

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The wind played gently with her bangs while she conversed quietly with her silent audience. She never received a reply, but she still felt like her words were being listened to.

"Who would have thought that I would become a ninja of all things? I still remember mother teaching me how to dance, saying that I would catch the eye of a handsome Lord and live a happy life."

She giggled. "Well, I guess fighting can be considered a form of dancing and I am happy, so I just need the handsome Lord." An image of the older Naruto popped into her head and her face instantly went bright red. The fact that if Naruto became Hokage he would, technically, be a Lord didn't help the situation.

"Okay! Change of subject!" she shook her head to clear it. "There should be a mission out of Konoha coming up so I won't be here for a while, but I promise to be careful and keep the boys out of trouble." The wind swirled around her. It was warm and comforting, as if it could tell she was anxious even though she sounded calm. She crouched down to the voiceless participant in the conversation.

Before her was large chrome basin, raised on 3 spiralling legs holding it a few inches off the ground, which was filled with water and had a smaller, stone dish held above the water level in the centre. In the centre of the dish was a tiny recess which held the fuel for the blue flame that burned steadily throughout the year. Of course it was no ordinary fuel, it was several drops of Fumiko's blood, infused with chakra and the will to create a flame the very instant it left her body four months after she and Naruto first arrived back in the past.

She gazed softly at the flame for a moment and recalled what had inspired her to use the technique. It was a memory from her precious few years before her parents' deaths. Her father had acquired a small statue of a serene fox sitting with its tail curled neatly around its legs. Between the legs and protected by the tail her father created a blue flame of his own, mixing his blood with that of her mother's already in the tiny gap in the stone. As long as they were alive, he told her, the flame would burn and she would know they were always there to protect her.

That flame no longer existed when she had returned to the ruins of her home the night after the attack, but she felt that she had to use her own flame for her parent's memorial as, although their bodies gone, they would always be alive within her in a sense. They were in her heart and in her blood.

She wrapped her arms around her knees and tail around her ankles. No matter what, she missed her parents.

There were footsteps behind her, but the scent told her it was no one to have her worry about hiding the ears and tail, partly because he had his own most of the time.

"It's already been 7 years huh?" Naruto asked softly.

She nodded.

He could see she had been crying. She always did this day of the year. It was the only day she allowed herself to openly mourn her family. However, no matter how many years passed it still made him sad to see her upset and when her fox ears were turned down and pressed back against her head he just wanted to wrap his arms around her, hold her tight and promise that he would always be there for her. Always.

She felt his eyes on her and turned to meet his gaze. At his worried expression she gave him a watery smile and stood to make a space for him in front of the memorial.

Every year he brought two lilies, but this year there was also a rose. When Fumiko spotted it she peered at it trying to figure out what would have caused him to buy it. Her ears quirked forward slightly when he stood back up after placing the lilies at the base of the memorial and still held the rose.

With a blush he handed it to her.

She held it up to her nose and raised an eyebrow at him.

Looking away and still blushing he explained. "It was sitting on its own in the shop, looking lonely and I remembered you like roses, so I thought you would like it." He paused and snuck a glance at her as he put his hands behind his head. "Do you?" he asked. He was glad Kyuubi wasn't there or he would have been getting teased that he was acting like a boy with his first crush, which was technically true, but so was the fact that he was getting close to 30 years worth of memories inside his mind. His excuse was lack of experience and he was sticking to it.

After evicting Kyuubi that afternoon he had found himself thinking long and hard on his romance dilemma. It was on his way to the flower shop owned by Ino's family that he had decided to test the ground work with a few small gestures and take it from there.

Fumiko fought down her own blush and surprise. She didn't know what had caught her off guard more, the fact that Naruto had actually done something romantic for her, or the fact that she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach because of it. Her fingertips tingled as she held the flower close and answered his question.

"I love it." She told him quietly, looking down.

His eyes shot back to her and smiled.

She looked up, smiled back at him and then turned her gaze back to the blue flame. She tried for countless times to picture her parent's faces, but always failed. She was ashamed that those precious memories were fading, too ashamed to even tell Naruto, the one closest to her. Fumiko didn't even realise that she had started to cry in earnest once again until she felt Naruto wrap his right arm around her back and his hand gently grip her shoulder. She chose comfort and reassurance over embarrassment for the moment and leaned against him for support as the tears kept falling for the better part of an hour.

"Feel better?" he asked when it seemed she had got it out of her system.

She nodded and was about to say something else when she picked up several different scents approaching them. "Everyone else is here." She told him, but then took a more noticeable sniff. "Kyuubi was only summoned a few days ago. What did you chuck him out for?"

"For doing a damn better job than his own conscience." The fox in question answered as he appeared from the trees.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing!" the blonde tomato cut in.

Kyuubi grinned and walked up to Fumiko's side, followed by Kakashi and his ninja dogs summons. Pakkun carried a lily in his mouth and placed it beside the two Naruto had brought, while his master busied himself with rearranging the current party, mainly nipping Naruto's right hand and removing it from his darling princess. This was much to the girl's embarrassment and surprising disappointment.

It was the same every year. The dogs were seen as part of the family so they would all visit the memorial on the anniversary of Fumiko's parent's deaths and give them an update on what had been going on. They didn't know why they all did it, but the two travellers had from the beginning and everyone else just seemed to pick up the habit.

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That night when everyone else was already asleep, Fumiko still lay awake staring at the rose Naruto had given her. It sat on her chest of drawers on the wall opposite her bed in a glass of water. The moonlight streamed through the balcony doors and seemed to make the satin petals shimmer. The bold red colour made Fumiko feel like she was missing something totally obvious, but she had no idea what, except the butterflies that danced a tango in her stomach when she replayed Naruto giving it to her. Before she had met him any relationship other than parent and child were alien to her, but now she had friends, a best friend she regarded as a sister and a teammate that was fast becoming a brother.

Naruto, however, was something else, and she just couldn't put her finger on it, even though the rose appeared to scream it to her.


	19. Chapter 19

Well here's the start o Wave for y'all.

Remember and review please

Pretty Please...xXx

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Chapter 19

Yawning yet again Naruto got an amused smirk from Sasuke and eye crease from Kakashi. Fumiko however settled for glaring ice daggers at him. It took nearly all of his courage to not flinch every time she did, especially when her fingers twitched, but that was usually when his eyes wondered anywhere on her person other than her face.

Desperate, the terrified teenager tried once more to erase the image he had received in the early hours of that morning from his mind, but it was no good. This was mainly because of the furry lodger that would instantly refresh his memory and remind him just why he had a sense of impending doom.

**Heh heh... **Kyuubi chuckled. **What are you trying to forget for? You got the rare chance to see what at least two dozen teenage boys would give there left foot to get even a glimpse of! **If he had a physical body at that point in time the fox would bonk the idiot blonde on the head and tell him to count his blessings.

_I would if it was shown voluntarily, but walking in while she's changing is something else. _Naruto inwardly shuddered. He had been lucky to escape with his furry pieces still attached and one non-furry one. He blamed it all on sleep deprivation.

:Flashback :

Naruto leaned heavily on the inside of the closed front door. To say it had been a long day was an understatement. He and the rest of team seven had done no less than ten D-rank missions and somehow managed to get in an all out battle royal with the rest of the rookies and Gai's team – in which he had narrowly dodged Ino's mind switch jutsu. After that Anko had cornered him on the way home and whined about Iruka's constant escapes from her advances, most of which involved her pinning him to a solid surface. However, as she was already there and they were closer to her apartment than the Hatake house, he decided to take the opportunity to study the seal on her neck a bit more. There were a couple of things he wanted to verify about it. That had in fact taken all night and he now only had enough time to shower before leaving to collect the day's missions along with the rest of his team.

He heaved in exhausted sigh and dragged his tired carcass up the stairs. Luckily the future Sakura had shown him how to make an energy drink, and Tsunade had shown him how to make its taste bearable, so he decided to guzzle his last bottle and make more later – something told him he would need the strength. Once he had downed the bottle stashed in the back of the draw he had gone for a quick shower to at least get rid of the previous day's sweat, dirt and grime. That all went fine. However, he found water to be relaxing and the drink hadn't kicked in yet, so needless to say he was very drowsy, the very reason he made an almost deadly mistake.

Mumbling to himself that he needed to get some fresh clothes he opened a bedroom door, just not his, and was greeted with a sight that would haunt and taunt him for months. Before him stood Fumiko with her shorts in hand and wearing only her underwear, hand altered to accommodate her tail's appearances. He was in no way a pervert, but he just couldn't help but stop and stare, well for the 2 seconds he was granted before reality crash landed and the girl unleashed hell. She was flawless in the blonde's opinion, and had Kyuubi been able to manifest words at that point in time he would have agreed. Her breasts were secured by a green, strapless bra with white petals on it that matched the panties.

Stupidly enough, the idiot's only coherent thought before being violently ejected from the room was, _I wish her hair was down. _It was something Kyuubi repeatedly scolded him for, but Naruto quite often tried to figure out how it looked down, if only because it was always in a knot. It was starting to bug him almost as much as Kakashi's mask.

:End Flashback:

Naruto was snapped out of his musings, although most of those gathered in the missions room pondered whether it was the pointed cough of the Third Hokage or Fumiko cracking her knuckles.

Iruka seemed to be the only one to notice the tiny sparks that surrounded the fingers of Kakashi's left hand. Well, it did seem as if Naruto had done something to upset the ninja's little girl.

Sarutobi coughed again to regain the attention of the room. "As I was saying...We have the unheard of situation where the genins are completing D-rank missions faster than I can assign them, so I have no choice but to give team seven a C-rank mission."

Naruto perked up and hoped that the day had finally come. He had two missing nin to sort out. How – he currently had no idea, but he had a knack for figuring this stuff out on the spot. "Fine with me!" Naruto declared in his own unique fashion. "As long as it's nothing boring, like going to another village to pick up a 'special' book order for you." The blonde grinned at the old man hiding under his hat as the rest of those seated in the room looked confused, Fumiko bit her lip, Sasuke barely hid a snort and Kakashi smirked under his mask.

"It is an escort mission." The pink-cheeked Hokage pressed on.

Naruto had to clamp down on his urge to yell 'fucking finally!'

"Allow our visitor to enter if you please." Sarutobi directed and all eyes turned back to the door.

It shifted to the side to reveal an old man carrying a half empty sake bottle. "What the-?" he asked. "A bunch of little snot-nosed kids?" he took a big swig of the sake, trying to drown out the disappointment of being fobbed off on children.

Sasuke, Kakashi and Fumiko put up impassive masks, but Naruto decided to go for slightly ticked off – which really was pissed minus the killer intent.

"And you, the little one with the idiotic look on your face." He pointed to Naruto, whose eyebrows had twitched at 'little', causing his teammates to consider stepping back just a tad. "You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

The blonde had hardly moved an inch towards their flush-faced 'client' before Kakashi, knowing Naruto too well, latched on to the collar of the teen's jacket. "Now Naruto, we fail the mission if you dismember the client before we even leave." The silver-haired ninja advised. He had a sinking feeling about the man before them and actually wouldn't have minded letting Naruto experiment had the situation been different.

"Alright wise guy." Naruto growled. "Just who are you?" He fine well knew the answer to that but still had to play along.

The man took another swig of sake. "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change out world and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

"You don't ask for much then do you?" Sasuke enquired sarcastically and it was Naruto's turn to snort.

Before things could escalate and cause Tazuna to withdraw his request the Third Hokage decided to inform them that they were dismissed and had 30 minutes to gather their supplies and meet at the village gates. The ninja left as instructed, but the genin did not do so in the manner the others expected – they shuishined away instead of using the door.

Tazuna's lack of experience with ninja left him blinking in surprise at the move, but everyone else present, except for Sarutobi, were disbelieving that newly graduated genin could be capable of such a technique so quickly.

_If only they knew the half of it. _The Third chuckled to himself.

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Taking advantage of the seemingly evaporated ice between them Naruto leaned casually on Fumiko's door frame and asked, "So... you nervous about leaving the village?" he struggled to keep his face relaxed when she loaded another item in the storage scroll spread open on her bed and turned to him pondering what to answer. Her tail swayed from side to side in thought, curling at the end each time it did so, her lips pursed and she pointed her right finger against her chin as she looked up with her head twitched to the side. The fact that the angle of her head made her ears go lopsided just finished the look that made Naruto want to smile at her. He snapped himself from his musings when she made to answer.

"I guess I am." She frowned. "Although I have been outside the village, heck I was born outside of it and basically grew up out there, but this is technically my first time actually leaving." She looked away sadly. "I'm leaving the only place I've found happiness."

"Don't worry." Naruto reassured, hating to see her sad. "We'll only be away a little while, then we'll be right back."

"You're right." She nodded with a smile.

He laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I usually am."

"In what universe?" she giggled.

He simply winked and left to finish his own packing.

Fumiko stuck out her tongue a the now empty space and stored the final few items from her room before heading downstairs for food supplies, she just hoped that when Papa-Kashi said he would meet them there he meant on time.

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The pair sighed in relief when they arrived at the gates to find they were just behind Kakashi. They then turned smug when they found both Kakashi and Sasuke eying the fact that they were not carrying rucksacks.

"Don't tell me you forgot your bag Dope." Sasuke sweatdropped when his fellow team members produced a storage scroll each from their back pouches.

"I should have known better" Kakashi deadpanned.

"Got any spares?" Sasuke almost pleaded. He had packed way too much.

Naruto chuckled and threw each of them a scroll grinning.

Tazuna just sat against a tree and shook his head in confusion as the belongings were rearranged. Once done he took another gulp of sake and grumbled that they should get moving.

They did so, with Tazuna unaware that Fumiko was replacing every drop of sake he drank with water from the air, diluting it drop by drop. She strongly disliked alcohol, to put it lightly, it had a tendency to bring out the worst in people and made them unpredictable.

Not long after moving off Fumiko smelled a foreign scent following them. She looked to Naruto, who locked gazes with her and nodded. He too had detected their trackers, although he did so through their chakra signatures.

The blonde discreetly turned his head back to Kakashi and Sasuke and gave them a warning look, then looked pointedly back the way they had come. They both nodded in acknowledgement. Sasuke couldn't help wondering how the hell Naruto seemed so much better at some things but decided to put it done to being merged with Kyuubi.

Looking ahead Naruto saw a puddle on the path just coming slowly into view. He inwardly grinned. "Sorry." He told no one in particular. "I've gotta take a leak." And with that he sped off to dart in the bushes right beside the puddle. Kyuubi complimented his aiming skills as the stream was expertly directed out of the bush and into the puddle. Pretty sure that there was some minor growling coming from the puddle, Naruto wiped the sadistic grin from his face and stepped out of the bushes to await the others.

When they had caught up and the group passed the puddle. Naruto sensed the change in chakra, Fumiko heard something behind them, Sasuke got a shiver down his spine and Kakashi noticed his genin tense up.

Clawed chains suddenly flew towards Kakashi and wrapped around his torso. A second later they were jerked tighter and ripped what the attackers and Tazuna thought to be the jounin to shreds. An instant later they were behind Naruto.

"We'll teach you a lesson brat!" They readied their weapons, but when they made to attack the blonde vanished.

He reappeared between them and took hold of their shoulders closest to him and pulled them into a spin as he continued forward. The sharp motion yanked on the chains and brought them sailing back to their wielders. Naruto waited until the last instant then ducked safely under the razor sharp metal, allowing them to make contact with the dumbfounded pair behind him. When it was over Tazuna was left blinking at what the child had just done, while Naruto held two thumbs up at his friends. They smiled at his behaviour as Kakashi walked out of the tree line and up to the ninja seeing stars on the ground and smelling distinctly of piss for some reason. On a whim he glanced at Naruto, who simply stuck his tongue out at the unasked question and Kakashi sweatdropped. _I should always assume it was him unless told otherwise._

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After have the truth of the situation had been extracted from him, Tazuna was far more subdued during the boat ride over the water and the start of the trek through some woods that followed, even though it was decided to continue the mission and protect him from the one named Gato.

Naruto did not match the bridge builder's sour mood. He was actually in a rather hungry one. Opening up his storage scroll he unsealed a cup of instant BBQ ramen and a pair of chopsticks then returned the scroll to his pouch, all without missing a step. When the action caught Fumiko's attention he pulled back the lid and moved the cup closer to her with a pleading grin on his face.

Tazuna screwed up his face in confusion only for his jaw to go slack and stare in amazement as the girl pointed her finger at the cup, twirled it in the air and have steaming hot water appear to flow from around her finger and into the waiting cup.

The blonde waited for the water to be absorbed before he took his first delicious mouthful, only to find himself slightly put out when another pair of chopsticks entered the cup just as his own vacated it. He playfully glared into the emerald eyes to his left.

"What?" Fumiko asked innocently around her noodles then swallowed. "It's my water."

Naruto pouted but allowed her to continue, with the vague thought that he should actually be feeding it to her in the back of his head, right beside a sniggering fox. He was about to take another load of noodles when he found yet another set of chopsticks helping empty the cup of its contents. Sapphire eyes met charcoal.

"Teams share." Was all the explanation the Uchiha gave before delivering the food to his now salivating mouth. Years of friendship with Naruto and Fumiko had developed his taste for the dish. He too was permitted to continue his disposal of the food, though not without a couple of huffs from the one holding the cup.

It was then that Naruto became glad that he had been secretly giving his friends extra training over the years, whether they knew it or not, and developed their ninja skills faster than in the last timeline. They all sensed the ninja in the trees and the two with demonic traits became aware of the other ninja further off, but still within observation distance. The three still eating ramen were in the front of the group, whereas Kakashi was at the back alongside their client to keep an eye on him. When the giant sword came spinning towards them Kakashi pulled Tazuna down under its path of flight. The trio ducked in unison, then continued eating without skipping a beat, at which Kakashi could only sweatdrop.

The sword stopped by impaling itself on a tree right before it was used as an improvised perch for its master. Kakashi had his guard up in milliseconds and Tazuna looked ready to either run or vomit, possibly both. The teenagers kept eating as if the new comer was merely the mealtime entertainment.

Sasuke squinted at the headband. It was one of his more subtle tactics. Just because the majority of his bloodline granted excellent vision, non activated eyes were as susceptible as everyone else's. This Uchiha's vision was exceedingly sharp, but opponents sometimes tended to underestimate. A brief flick through his memories matched a name to the face in front of them. "Hey, isn't that the Zabuza Mist guy?" he asked his friends pointing the chopsticks towards the man in question.

Two masked men raised their eyebrows at the newcomer being known to the black-haired boy.

"Yip." Naruto confirmed around a mouthful of noodles.

The lack of fear from the three was seriously starting to grate on Zabuza's nerves.

Fumiko poked him in the side of the face with her currently empty chopsticks. "Swallow first: answer later."

While his students thought nothing of Sasuke's knowledge of the ninja's identity, Kakashi had a sinking feeling on where he had acquired it. "How do you know that Sasuke?" the frustration was clear in his tone.

The boy looked back at him. "Fumi got copies of the Bingo books for Fire and Wind countries." He shrugged.

The jounin's face dropped. Sure enough their own one would be easy enough to get a hold of, but the one for Wind country was highly classified material, even he would have some trouble obtaining it.

"Don't worry Papa-Kashi. I put them back once the copies were done." Fumiko hastily put in trying to reassure her adoptive father.

It didn't have the desired effect. Kakashi actually wanted to feint with the fear of the trouble she would have been in had she been caught, but that was soon replaced with the relief and pride that she had not.

All the while Zabuza was being completely ignored, something he definitely was not used to, if fact he had no memory of it ever happening before now at all. He was about to voice his anger, when Naruto distracted them all.

Out of nowhere, and seemingly unprompted, the blonde sprayed his mouth's nutritious contents and proceeded with a mixture of laughter and coughing.

His friends had missed his projectiles and peered curiously at him.

He settled the chopsticks in the cup and motioned them closer to whisper to them the source of his amusement. When finished the other two mirrored Naruto's actions, and found they were unable to keep their food in their mouths. Instead it went all over Naruto...

Of course Kyuubi just had to make the assessment that Zabuza was compensating for something with the size of his sword.

The swordsman's patience snapped. "Enough of this!" he growled, letting killing intent roll off him in waves. This pushed the bridge builder to the edge of passing out. Sasuke took a second to brace himself as he had never truly been exposed to it from an enemy. The rest were utterly unaffected. Well... Naruto actually looked bored while he grumbled away about how he would rather be having a shower and that just because he loved to eat ramen didn't mean he wanted to wear it.

In a combination of menacing snarl and huff, which nearly had Fumiko in giggles because it sounded like disturbing the sleep of a loud snorer, Zabuza shifted from the tree to the water's surface in the blink of an eye, his hands already in position for his trademark jutsu. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" he called then vanished as mist surrounded them.

With his hands in his pockets, Kakashi looked in the direction he had last seen Naruto, waited... then sighed in frustration. "Any time Naruto." He said to where he now knew the blonde was located, if the mumbling of 'what a waste a good ramen' was anything to go by. "Naruto?..."

"This is why I shouldn't share my food..."

"NARUTO!"

"What!" the teen finally snapped out of his one-sided argument.

"If you wouldn't mind." Kakashi ground out.

"Mind what?"

"THE MIST!"

"Oh!"

The others sweatdropped.

Getting more pissed off by the second, Zabuza prepared his mental taunting routine, but suddenly found that he was standing a dozen feet from the back of the group and was completely exposed – his mist was gone. A quick scan of those present informed him of the cause.

With his hand outstretched, in the middle of a dwindling whirlwind, stood Naruto with his fox grin just screaming his amusement at Zabuza's slack-jawed expression. Taking Fumiko's power over certain elements as inspiration, Naruto – ever the inventor – had development a way to use the elements allied with his chakra nature in a similar fashion to her without it being a jutsu. It was handy when he didn't have, or simply couldn't be bothered, to make hand signals, but it still required chakra. Of course, with his reserves, that wasn't much of an issue.

Altering his plan of attack, the missing nin dashed for the water again. He wasted no time in creating three water clones.

Naruto chuckled. "Looky!" He ordered in a deliberately childish voice. "I can make clones too!" a single movement and 6 shadow clones poofed into existence behind him.

"Shadow clones?" Zabuza mused. "Not bad kid."

"It gets better." The blonde teen's grin got bigger. "Look down."

Zabuza did so and his eyes went wide. In the water below him there were at least another 50 clones, each with a predatory grin that made even him uneasy. _Just what the fuck is this brat?_ He didn't get any time to think it over.

The three clones behind Naruto charged the opposing water clones, whereas the real one took a leisurely stroll to stand atop the water.

Either the kid had some serious balls and had the power to back it up, or he was severely lacking in the intelligence department. The enemy ninja had a sinking feeling that it was the former and considered if he was getting paid enough for this. Somehow he was starting to doubt it. Taking a risk, Zabuza started a series of long complicated hand signs that Naruto could just remember.

If he was right, it might be a good jutsu for Fumiko to learn, if only to make her ability with water all the scarier. His suspicions were confirmed when the final symbol was made and the jutsu was called into existence.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Sasuke blinked. It wasn't too bad a jutsu.

Fumiko whistled lowly. It might be interesting to have, but she had – in her personal opinion – more pressing issues to deal with. Focussing on the water dragon she waved her hand in a deliberate motion in front of her from one side to the other, with her palm facing downwards.

That was all it took for the creature to lose its form and crash down in torrents over the two ninja on the water, much like a large bucket had just been emptied over their heads.

Zabuza assumed the boy in front of him had caused it and stared dumbly at him. _Did he just cancel my jutsu without bloody moving?_ He realised the falsehood of this when the blonde turned to his comrades and started arguing with the girl.

"What the fuck was that for?" he hollered at her.

"It was that or puke!" she screwed up her face. "Ramen does _not_ mix with your deodorant and I could smell you all the way over here!"

"So you decided to interrupt a fight to give me a friggin freezing shower?"

"Trust me," Kakashi interrupted, "she did us all a major favour."

Naruto was silent for a second before looking to Sasuke. "That bad huh?"

His best friend merely nodded.

"Oh well." The teen laughed with a pink tinge to his cheeks. He was soon distracted from his embarrassment by Zabuza.

"Are you telling me that tiny girl nullified my technique from all the way over there?"

Naruto grinned at him. "Well yeah... you might use your chakra to manipulate the water but Fumi controls the water itself."

"You're joking...right?" he couldn't believe it.

"Nope." This wasn't how Zabuza had wanted things to go.


	20. Chapter 20

Well here's chap 20.

!Please Leave Me A Review!

I don't know what ideas work if you don't tell me Lol

Sorry for the squished text before, Dunno wot happened in the upload. Think i got it all.

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Chapter 20

_I __am __the __feared __bloodthirsty __Demon __of __the __Hidden __Mist, __even __those __who __don__'__t __know __my __name __tremble __in __fear __at __the __mere __sight __of __me. __I __am __in __the __Bingo __Books __of __every __nation __and __have __a __huge __bounty __on __my __head, __but __these __people...especially __this __blonde __kid...are __acting __like __they__'__re __at __a __picnic. _Zabuza narrowed his eyes at Naruto. _I __have __a __feeling __that __if __I __come __at __this __guy __head __on __I __might __just __lose __my __own __head, __if __not __my __sanity. _He looked to Fumiko and chuckled evilly. "I doubt you'll be so tough with your girlfriend dead and bleeding." He threatened with a smirk directed at Naruto.

With a twitch, he hefted his sword and took his first step in his charge at the girl. However he stopped on the second step when he felt his sword jerk back a little. Confused, he tilted the broad side of the blade into view and his blood ran cold. His weapon was now sporting three new, perfectly formed, holes in an immaculate line up its length. In slow motion, he turned his head to look upon Fumiko's face, sporting what could only be described as a demonic grin, and a further three balls of spinning water hovering above her extended left palm.

Taking the not so subtle hint, Zabuza decided to just take his chances with the blonde, who was at this point clutching his sides and laughing outright.

Naruto sobered up when he saw his enemy coming at him full throttle and with a scratch at his nose thought it best to do the same.

When what appeared to be the real fight finally started Fumiko moved to stand in between Kakashi and Tazuna. The pair didn't bat an eyelash at her action, but both ended up chuckling when she produced a box of popcorn from her scroll. With a shrug, Tazuna took a handful and Kakashi went to stand behind her and lean over so he wouldn't have to make repeat trips. She motioned the box to Sasuke, but he waved her off and unsealed his own snack – a large tomato, which he proceeded to eat like an apple.

Unaware of his munching audience, Zabuza pulled the kunai Naruto had lodged in his arm out and, with a strained yell, hurled it towards the orange-clad ninja. He nearly got it right. He missed by about half an inch, which was just too much to be able to hit the blonde, but just enough to sail past yellow hair and knock a tomato from an unsuspecting Uchiha's hand.

With wide eyes, Sasuke's head followed the descent of his precious food. By the time it landed with a thudded splat the black-haired genin was turned away from all others present. Slowly he turned back round, but his eyes were no longer black. Instead, Fumiko and Kakashi saw the red with black specs of the Sharingan.

"Oh...shit..." the pair muttered in unison, but Fumiko went to the extra effort of pulling her camera from her pouch.

"My...tomATO!"

Naruto had just enough warning with the yell and outburst of killing intent to cut the chakra flow to his feet and plunge beneath water. Not a millisecond later a giant fireball shot over his head.

Kakashi had to smirk when he noted that the fireball was strangely in the shape of a tomato complete with a stem.

Sasuke unleashed a barrage of his Phoenix Fire Jutsu, resulting in a Mist missing nin running in circles like a headless chicken, dodging fire like a mad man in the desperate hope of not getting hit. His sword was merely flailing behind him as he ran. Its new holes rendered it a rather sparse defence to the balls of fire.

"HOW'S THIS FOR A DRAGON BITCH!" Sasuke roared. "Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

Knowing full well that his blonde charge had to have something in mind for Zabuza or he would not have lasted even half this long, Kakashi thought it would be best to push the mute button on the Uchiha before all that was left was ash. That and he doubted Naruto could hold his breath for much longer. With the stealth of a pro, he took another tomato from his own scroll and held it under Sasuke's nose.

After a couple of dumb blinks the Sharingan was deactivated and with a delighted "Oooh", the teen snatched the offered fruit and plopped cross-legged on the ground. He wasted no time in devouring the red, shiny object the size of his fist.

At the distinct lack of flames coating the surface of the water, Naruto channelled his chakra to allow him to climb back out into the air, taking huge gulps of it into his screaming lungs. He glanced at the still smoking Zabuza. "You do realise you could have just ducked under the water?"

The whites of Zabuza's eyes were his only answer.

"Are you getting paid enough for this?"

The swordsman shook his head.

"Well here's your choice." Naruto informed him with a knowing smile. "Help us finish the bridge and liberate Wave," he paused for effect and took a sneaky glance at his best friend, "or we take Sasuke's tomato away."

Not even a second later, Zabuza had stored his sword on his back and was kneeling in front of Naruto. "Anything but that."

"Fine." Naruto chuckled. "Just stand up would ya!"

With his own nervous chuckle, the unlikely ally stood. "Haku!" he called.

A masked nin appeared in an instant beside him.

"Take the mask off." He growled. "New boss, Haku." He pointed at the pretty faced ninja beside him. "Haku, new boss." He motioned to Naruto.

"Pleasure to meet you." Haku bowed.

"It's Naruto, and nice to meet you too."

**Hey Kit! Please tell me you learned a certain lesson with our first meeting with Fumi.**

_Huh?_

**Sniff!**

Even with the genjutsu hiding his fox parts, his sense of smell was sensitive enough to accomplish this task, so he took a quick breath in through the nose and found he suddenly had a mental version of himself doing somersaults in his head. _I __was __right __before! __Haku __is __a __girl! __My __faith __in __my __sexual __orientation __is __restored!_

**I love the fact that this one incident had you question it for years.**

Kyuubi was mentally poked with a very sharp stick.

/\\ /\\

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A somewhat cheerful atmosphere surrounded the group as they headed for Tazuna's home, if a little less so for Zabuza who used talking to Kakashi as an excuse to keep the silver-haired ninja between him and the teenagers. Haku thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk freely with people her own age, even if Sasuke had a tiny hissy-fit when she enquired if he deliberately styled his hair to look like a duck's rear end or if it was stuck like that. Naruto decided to let the idea settle for a couple of days before constantly using it to piss his friend off.

When they finally arrived, Tazuna's daughter lit up at the sight of her father, but then did an excellent impression of a fish when she got a glimpse of Zabuza and promptly feinted a second or two later. It didn't take her long to recover with both Fumiko and Haku tending to her.

While they were distracted, Sasuke judged it the right time to ask Naruto a question.

"Psst!"

Naruto looked to the side to see Sasuke motioning him over. With a shrug of the shoulders he obliged. "What?" he whispered.

"That Haku," he nodded in her general direction, "guy or girl?"

Naruto really wanted to lie at this point, but thought it best not to. "Girl."

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief and the blonde clapped a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

Kyuubi broke into Naruto's thoughts. **Yo, ****where****'****s ****the ****little ****brat ****that ****was ****here ****last ****time?**

Sapphire eyes scanned the room for any sign of the kid. Nothing. _He __must __be __hiding __somewhere __because __of __Zabuza. __He__'__ll __show __up __eventually._

**Joy...**Kyuubi remarked dryly, making Naruto laugh softly under his breath.

/\\ /\\

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Sure enough, once the calm setting of dinner was established and Tsunami was forever fussing over Zabuza's lack of clothes, a small boy in a white hat emerged into the room to retrieve his meal. He was either ignored or given a casual glance at first, but it didn't take long for him to gain the attention of the whole room when he opened his ill-considered trap.

"Why bother feeding them?" he spat. "Gato and his men are just gonna kill them anyway."

"Inari!" his mother scolded, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Let them try." Zabuza snorted.

Naruto knew his lines so he swallowed his boredom and said them. "Well kid, You're looking at the one and only Ninja Hero Naruto." he announced proudly and thudded his thumb into his chest.

**That's it Kit. We're auditioning you for some movies when we get back!**

"There's no such thing as heroes!" Inari yelled and ran from the room.

**Well that was a conversation killer.**

Everyone looked from on to another in the silence that followed the child's departure.

Tsunami excused herself and went to comfort her son.

"Care to tell us what that was all about?" Kakashi asked Tazuna casually.

With a grunt of agreement, the bridge builder began his story.

/\\ /\\

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Naruto sighed happily and patted his stomach. _They __might __not __have __a __large __amount __of __food, __but __Tsunami __sure __knows __how __to __make __it __filling...not __to __mention __delicious. _He grinned.

**I ****wouldn****'****t ****know...**Kyuubi grumbled.

_Sorry Fuzzy, but you're my ace up the sleeve should I need it._

**Why don't I believe you?**

"What you doing out here Whiskers?"

Naruto looked behind him. "Hey Fumi." He patted the spot next to him on the deck. "I'm just wondering if Kashi will have enough time to fully corrupt Zabuza before the mission is over." He chuckled when he saw Fumiko shudder. He couldn't blame her. Anyone would find it disturbing for someone like Zabuza to take to Icha-Icha after only reading the first page.

Fumiko rested her foot on the edge of the platform and rested her chin on her knee. "I'm guessing that was the boy you told me about before?"

"Yeah..." he replied and gazed out over the water. He suddenly twitched ever so slightly. "Gato's goons are prowling the edge of the village, but Zabuza and Haku's defeat has them all on edge."

"Defeat?"

"Oh! Whoops, forgot to say during dinner." He scratched behind his ear with a guilty look on his face, prompting a scolding look from his companion, which he listed as one of her cutest features but thought it best to keep that little tip-bit to himself and Kyuubi for now. "I transformed a couple shadow clones to look like them, only dead."

Fumiko's lips twitched upwards a bit. Shadow clones certainly made things interesting.

"I also dispatched some clones to make a perimeter around the village. That was one of them dispelling to let me know that the two guys he was watching have headed back to Gato."

The half-demon laughed. "You're the definition of a one-man-army!" she stopped laughing and allowed her fox ears to pop into existence. After a few moments, she looked at the curious blonde beside her. "Inari's crying again." She told him. "I think you should go talk to him."

Naruto let out a dejected breath. "Better late than never." He stood and stretched his arms above his head. "This might take a while, so night."

"See ya tomorrow." She waved as he walked somewhat forcibly into the house.

Fumiko returned to watching the water before her. She had actually been to the land of Waves in the previous timeline. The surrounding waters had given her a measure of comfort, not to mention their constant availability made her more able to defend herself. That had been both before and after the building of the bridge, so she too had a desire to use some of Gato's goons as punching bags. She looked skyward to the stars, _now __that __I __think __about __it...__I __thought __that __it __was __an __odd __name __for __a __bridge._


	21. Chapter 21

Hey Guys!

Super sorry about the delay! Was busy with work and xmas, then got swamped with college deadlines. Super fun...not...

Anyway here's chap 21!

Please review, pretty please.

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Chapter 21

It wasn't that he was impossibly good at clones and transformations that prompted his method of spreading false information to Gato's goons, it was that he greatly enjoyed screwing with the heads of people that pissed him off...well screwing with people's heads full-stop. The fact that he had a sadistic fox demon in his head the majority of the time had nothing to do with it...really...

Naruto had created a small army of clones and transformed them into villager look-a-likes to spread false rumours on three things. The first was that Zabuza and Haku were dead; the second was that the fight had left Kakashi at death's door and the third was that the three young ninja had no idea what to do without their teacher. This had the desired effect of Gato starting to gather his men together and plot his move to 'crush' the bridge builder and those helping him. Zabuza estimated that it would take two days at most for Gato to get organised, so they had two days to 'prepare', although it was mostly spent training and bonding with their new allies.

On the water just outside Tazuna's house Zabuza had surrendered to Fumiko's requests to be taught the water dragon. He had refused at first and seemed unaffected by Fumiko's initial 'puppy face', as he was used to being around a cute girl. However, he was not used to staring down at a girl who had suddenly sprouted fox ears and tail, the former pressing flat against her head and the latter curling between her legs. That coupled with wide eyes and trembling lip crumpled Zabuza's resolve.

Kakashi sat on the deck, leaning against the side of the house, watching the proceedings with a mild curiosity as he busied himself making a reading list for the sword wielding missing-nin. He had been delighted to find his fellow ninja had similar reading interests, even though it seemed Haku was ready to die of shame.

As for Sasuke, the years of being around Naruto had caused him to see the potential of his fire jutsus changing shape, so he occupied himself experimenting with what he was capable of. He started off with squares and triangles, that is until Haku took an interest and started making ice shapes and a competition of sorts erupted. Before long two Naruto clones, the original and Tsunami started holding up score cards for their attempts. Well...one of the clones was actually playing Shithead with a Fumiko clone and automatically holding up seven for Haku and zero for Sasuke. Inari had run off by himself early in the morning and there seemed to be a silent agreement within those staying at the house that he was best left alone for the time being.

Tazuna was working hard on the bridge accompanied by three shadow clones, one from each member of the team. He had been worried when he left that morning and everyone else was outside when they were either supposed to be dead, dying or scared shitless. However, Kakashi reassured him that, between the Naruto and Fumiko clones, they had a perimeter set up around the entire village and should one see trouble it would just cancel itself and alert its master.

While the construction of the bridge was coming along nicely, the only thing progressing at the team's current lodgings was Sasuke's temper. He knew it took a lot of skill to do what he was currently doing with his fire jutsu, but it didn't mean it was any less annoying that someone else was able to do much the same thing but seem to be having a much easier time about it. His annoyance kept building until inevitably...

"DAMN IT!" he roared and released something vaguely like Tora on fire, only to realise he had put a bit too much chakra in it...and it was hurdling towards Fumiko and Zabuza. "WATCH OUT!"

The warning was just in time for the two unintentional targets to dive under the water. It was a rather large cat to merely try and dodge. There followed a sizable uproar of water and steam. As it cleared two _subtly _pissed off ninja climbed onto the water's surface by aid of their chakra. One had a huge sword securely in hand, while the other now had blue flames surrounding both of hers.

Sasuke meekly held his hands up in front of him. "Come on now it was an accident." He pleaded nervously, backing up a few steps.

They slowly started to advance on him.

"There's always a few failures when developing a new technique." His words appeared to fall on deaf ears.

"Wanna help me made a Sasuke kebab?" Fumiko asked Zabuza.

The swordsman gave her a questioning look. "How to you plan to do that?"

"Simple." She answered with a malicious gleam in her eye. "You skewer him and I barbeque him."

Sasuke paled.

Zabuza had to stop himself laughing out loud, as it would have ruined the effect this discussion was having on their victim. "I like the way you think." He allowed a dark chuckle.

The seriously worried Uchiha whispered "Oh shit" then wisely decided to turn and run, closely pursued by two ninja 'cooks'.

Before long the spectacle had become the new event to give scores to.

Sasuke still didn't win.

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Today was the day that Zabuza had estimated that Gato would make his move so the group all headed to the bridge, with the exception of Naruto who was suspiciously evasive in his excuse. Sasuke made no such excuse and soon wished that he had. The cute – fast becoming handsome – Uchiha had quickly acquired a decently sized fan club in Wave and found all the giggling stares very unnerving. Naruto also had his, if somewhat smaller, share of admirers, but they hid their glances better due to the death glares given, unconsciously, by Fumiko.

That very same teammate was walking behind him with Haku alongside her, deep in whispered conversation. He had tried to eavesdrop but found himself resembling his favourite food when he heard, "the friction from the vibration really helps." It's safe to say he vowed never to eavesdrop on two whispering woman. He wasn't to know they were actually discussing Fumiko's method for heating water in an instant. After recalling the words and having the blood flood his face for what felt like the hundredth time in the past minute, Fumiko tripped on the barely uneven road and caught her balance by hastily putting a hand on his back for a brief moment of support.

He glanced over his shoulder. "You ok?" he asked with a surprisingly even voice.

"Yeah." She assured him with her usual smile.

Had he not have been in a state of embarrassment he would have noticed two things. One, Fumiko was a trained ninja and wouldn't trip that easily, and two, there was a sly extra curve to her lips when she smiled. Had his brain registered either, or both, of these factors he would have quickly judged she was up to something...before the girls of the village started to stampede towards him. Alas, it just wasn't his day and the sight of the vast herd speeding his way sent him pelting to the bridge.

He shot past Kakashi and Zabuza, but not before the saw the sign on the boy's back.

'You catch me, you get me'

Their eyes followed Sasuke until he and his pursuers were out of sight, which was a very short time indeed, then swivelled around to look at the girls. They saw the postures that screamed 'justice' and recalled Sasuke sulking and calling the pair 'un-cute' at the previous night's dinner. Zabuza raised his eyebrows and tried not to laugh in public. Kakashi beamed with pride, taking full advantage of the mask hiding his face.

When they eventually arrived at the bridge they found Sasuke sitting on some scaffolding and rocking ever-so-slightly back and forth with the crumpled sign clutched between his hands.

"How's the construction going?" Kakashi asked Tazuna when the builder stopped what he was doing to greet them.

He gave a relieved smile and started to reply, but stopped when he noticed Fumiko twitch a couple of times. He turned his attention to her. "You alright Lass?"

She didn't explain the involuntary movement. She simply said, "Gato's on the move."

/\\ /\\

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Naruto too became aware of Gato's movements when some of his own clones dispelled.

**Show time!**

_What're you so happy about?_

**Wha...don't tell me I'm not getting a chance to play!**

_Ding Ding! Good guess!_

**Come on!**

_Nope._

**You're an evil bastard, you know that?**

_Well I'm technically you, so you're just insulting yourself._

**Isn't this conversation a little reversed from usual?**

_Huh...I didn't notice until you pointed it out._

Naruto had a mental image of Kyuubi rolling his eyes and looking decidedly irritated.

**Anyway...aren't those guys supposed to come here soon? That is what you hung back for right?**

_Ding Ding! Right again!_

**Would you stop that!**

_Sorry...hard to stop when you get started._

**Can I try?**

_NO!_

**Jeez...no need to yell...**

_Sorry..._

**Just hurry the hell up and get out the house already. You're not supposed to be here when they show up.**

_I know. Wish there was another option rather than repeating the same scene as before._

**I think we've already established that for the brat to stop being a brat this needs to happen like it did before.**

There was a very heavy mental sigh from Naruto.

**Look on the bright side. If you ever screw up being a ninja, you could always become an actor.**

_If I could put you up for adoption I would_, Naruto growled, only to be answered by Kyuubi's mocking chuckle. With one last desperately depressed sigh he left the house to await the time of rescue, silently praying there would still be a chance for him to join the others on the bridge.

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It took longer than he thought it would and he was sure the fight on the bridge would be over already, but sweatdropped when he arrived to discover Gato still monologging. Either his ego was larger than anyone thought, or the deception of death and illness had really put the guy at ease.

From the water under the bridge, Naruto jumped onto the railing then hopped down to join his friends. "Hey guys!" he called with his trademark grin. "What y'all up to?"

Gato merely spluttered at the interruption.

"Nothing much," said Sasuke to his blonde friend, "was just thinking up some more shapes to try."

"Cool." Naruto replied and turned to Fumiko for her answer.

"I'm just –"

"HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME YOU BRAT!" Gato roared.

"Easily." Was all Naruto gave in return which, as thought, only enraged Gato further – much to Kyuubi's delight.

"I'LL TEACH YOU NOT TO BE SUCH A LOUDMOUTH!"

**He does know countless people have already tried, and failed, to accomplish such a feat? **Kyuubi sniggered happily.

_Doubt it. _The young ninja smirked, which riled Gato further.

"WHAT ARE YOU SMIRKING AT BOY? WHAT GIVE YOU THE BALLS TO GO AGAINST MY POWER?"

Naruto scoffed. "Dude! A gerbil could kick your ass!" he declared, prompting a couple of snorts from behind him.

"I'd love to see you try and prove it kid!" Gato seemed to have realised he didn't have to actually shout to be heard, but obviously had no clue as to the events of the next few minutes he had just put into motion.

"Ok!" Naruto chirped...far too happily and before anyone could blink, he had transformed himself into a gerbil and charged full speed at Gato. The idiot had a furry rodent punching and kicking the crap out of him with chakra enhanced blows in the space of a few milliseconds.

As soon as people, well the ninjas at least, realised what was happening they swung into action. Zabuza and Kakashi dropped their disguises, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and Fumiko whipped out her camera for a couple quick shots of the now squealing Gato. It was perfect timing for the rest of the villagers, lead by Inari, to show up and block Gato's henchmen's' retreat.

Kakashi cracked a knuckle. "Looks like Naruto buggzied Gato..." and a sly smile slid onto his face, even hidden under the mask the ominous aura that accompanied it made Zabuza shiver when the copy-nin patted his hand on his shoulder. "How about we handle the rest?"

Zabuza couldn't help but ask. "What did you have in mind?"

Kakashi put his next suggestion down to years of living with a half-demon, a demon and...well...Naruto. He raised his voice a little to get the rest of the group's attention. "Alright everyone, least number of wins gets you 10 laps around the village in a tutu and leotard!" No sooner had he announced the challenge than he was off with a head start.

Zabuza blinked. "Like Hell anyone will –"

Everyone else took off, including Tazuna.

"Get back here you cheating bastards!" he hollered and ploughed into the fray.

Meanwhile, Naruto was taking his sweet time knocking the shit out Gato, mainly because of the gossip of some of the thugs working for him overheard in surveillance. Most of it was Gato's preferred interactions with girls of Fumiko's age. _And they call me a monster_, he thought. He was glad he had been alone when a clone relayed that piece of information, if the splintered remains of everything within a 50 foot radius of where he had been standing in the woods were anything to go by. A quick look at Gato's face told him the monster was about to pass out. He couldn't have that. Such a pathetic excuse for a human didn't deserve the sweet abyss of unconsciousness, so Naruto readied his final attack.

He flipped into the air above the tyrant and brought his forepaws in front of his body. Between them he formed a tiny Rasengan. He knew he shouldn't use it yet, as he was still to be 'taught' it, but it came easily and he missed using it. Besides, it was too damn small for anyone to see, unless they had a Sharingan and both of them were facing the other way. By the time the ball of swirling chakra is formed Naruto had descended back to the ground, so with a quick burst of chakra to his 'feet' he launched himself at Gato's neck, coming at it from front and centre. The combined force of jump and Rasengan had Naruto penetrate right through Gato's neck, effectively severing the top of his spine.

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The group travelled with an upbeat mood. They had completed their first mission outside of the village, which Kakashi said he would stress to the Hokage had technically become an A-Ranked mission at one point when they actually had to fight Zabuza, even thought it got piss-easy after that. He was proud of his students, even though one was issuing worrying noises and the other two were sniggering like children half their age. He gave his head a small shake and sighed, no one would ever guess right now that all three should really have their own entries in the bingo books of the other villages.

More sniggers came from his adopted daughter and almost lodger.

He shook his head again and went back to reading.

They were actually discussing the forfeit being carried out by Zabuza.

"I can't believe he actually wore a yellow tutu!" Fumiko gasped out, lacking oxygen from too much laughter.

"I can't believe the guy owned a pair of jellyfish boxers!" Sasuke was in a similar position to his teammate.

"Well, he did anyway!" that had them both tumbling back into peals of laughs and giggles.

"When do you think that guy will realise just what his efforts got him." Fumiko asked when she managed to breathe again.

"Who knows!" Sasuke chuckled. "Probably when he wakes up with a hangover and sore legs from running after him like the rest of them."

"I really hope that picture comes out ok."

"We should send him a copy." Suggested Kakashi, which was enthusiastically agreed with by the pair. Naruto on the other hand was a bit distracted...

He was seriously worried now. It had been a very long time since he had headed back home from Wave, and the storm the night before had screwed up his senses. The light fog didn't help matters any. "Erm..."

"Naruto, what's the matter?" his guardian and mentor asked calmly.

"Well..." the blonde gave a nervous giggle. That had the other two worried.

"Naruto..." Kakashi pressed.

Holding the map out in front of him, he gave a sheepish grin. "I think...we're lost."

Sasuke glanced at the map and his stomach hit the floor. "You've been holding the map upside down."

"What?" Fumiko exclaimed. Naruto was pretty sure he saw flames briefly lick her fingers.

**Isn't that what you want to do?** Kyuubi asked innocently.

_Not the time!_

**I bet it would calm her down.**

_Plus earn me a Chidori up my ass and a fireball down my throat._

**Good point.**

"Are you listening!" by this stage Fumiko had taken a hold of his ear.

"OW Ow ow ow..." he wriggled from her grasp.

"Enough kids..." Kakashi sighed and returned his book to his pouch. "Let's see if we can get a better view of our surroundings from that hill."

Sasuke and Fumiko matched his sigh and headed up the hill, dragging the repeatedly apologising Naruto between them. Once there all four of them observed the valley before them shrouded in fog.

The wind changed direction and moved the fog, bringing a small village into sight. The rain started to fall and before long it was pouring down, soaking them.

"Well nothing for it." Kakashi stated simply and moved off towards the village followed closely by Sasuke. Naruto took a single step, but saw Fumiko had not also done so. In fact, when he looked back, she hadn't moved at all. She was standing stock-still, as if frozen in place.

"Fumi?"

His question had the other two stop and look back to see what was wrong.

Naruto moved in front of her and the look in her eyes chilled him to his very bones.

She was utterly terrified as she stared at the village down below.


	22. Chapter 22

Hey ppl! I think i'll be realistic and aim to update every 2 weeks. Once a week is just near on impossible. Anyway...

Thank You sooo much for all the reviews!

I know it's sad, but i actually get giddy when I read nice ones! ^.^

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Chapter 22

The Konoha ninjas entered the small village with their senses on full alert with Kakashi and Sasuke subtly guarding the other two members of their team. Naruto carried Fumiko on his back. She had passed out on top of the hill, instantly setting Naruto against continuing to the village, but it was pouring of rain and they were low on supplies. They had not been able to purchase much in Wave due the severe shortage of everything because of Gato. Luckily, Wave's fortune was going to change for the better now that the bridge was build, the tyrant was gone and they had Zabuza and Haku to protect them. The former missing-nins had given Kakashi a formal requested to become allies of Konoha. If the Hokage accepted the request then the two would be removed from their bingo book and would give them aid, should they need it, in the future with either the defence of Wave or the training of the villagers to better protect themselves.

They found a room at a small inn without too much trouble, even though the owner and his wife gave them rather unwelcoming looks. There was also a strange scent in the air. It wasn't unpleasant, but it seemed to mess with Naruto's senses and he didn't like it one little bit. As Naruto lay Fumiko down on the bed roll Kakashi spoke up.

"I think it'd be best if we get what supplies we can then head off as soon as the rain lets up." He glanced at the two youths worried for their teammate. They nodded their agreement. "Good. Let's get going." He headed for the door, but stopped and turned to Naruto. "Best leave two clones with her."

The blonde didn't hesitate to do as he was told. He wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible, so he summoned the two clones. One would act as guard, the other as an alert should anything happen. "Stay out of trouble." Naruto ordered them.

"Sure thing Boss!" the clones gave stiff salutes as the trio departed the room.

Around 30 minutes after they left, the clones were bored and got themselves into trouble. They were dancing around and trying to outdo one another with balancing acts on the far side of the room. Eventually the inevitable happened and they collided in a puff of smoke.

At the other side of the village Naruto suddenly stopped and Sasuke froze beside him. He let out a heavy sigh.

"What's up?" Sasuke enquired. Had Fumiko been in trouble his best friend would have been off like a shot, so that ruled out that possibility.

"Why do I have to summon such idiots?" Naruto moaned.

"They're just copies of you, so why are you surprised?"

"Whatever Ducky."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and a vein started to bulge on his forehead. "I thought we talked about not using that name."

"No." Naruto corrected. "You moaned about it then stomped off." He shrugged his shoulders. "A discussion never took place."

Sasuke growled.

Naruto chuckled under his breath. "We'll quack about this later, but my clones just knocked each other out so I'm away to check on our sleeping beauty." He said over his shoulder as he turned to head back to the inn, but he wasn't getting away completely unscathed.

Sasuke saw his chance. "You never know. She might actually wake up if you kiss her."

Naruto went beat red, especially as he now couldn't stop envisioning what kissing Fumiko would be like. Kyuubi wolf-whistling and shouting suggestions didn't help a jot. He was still fighting a fierce blush as he arrived at the door to their room. With a deep breath he slid it open and instantly paled.

Fumiko was gone.

/\\ /\\

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It only took a second for Naruto's brain to register what was going on and to burst into action. He summoned a clone and sent it after Sasuke and Kakashi to inform them what had happened. As soon as that was done he pelted downstairs and asked the innkeeper if he had seen Fumiko leave.

The man just looked down at him with distaste and said, "Who knows" gruffly before turning away and stepping into another room, slamming the door behind him.

With a hastily restrained growl, the now pissed blonde flew out the door and started tracking Fumiko the old fashioned way. His sense of smell had been reduced to near human level because of the odd smell that seemed to be everywhere.

**It's probably incense.** Kyuubi told him.

_Why the heck would they use one with this kind of effect?_

**There's only one answer to that and I'm guessing you already know it.**

_Yeah. They know what it does to demonic senses, meaning they've had demon trouble in the past. _Fumiko's terror filled Naruto's head and he doubled his speed to find her.

**I see you've made the same connection.**

The young ninja said nothing, putting his full focus on finding the source of his worry. He came to some trees at the edge of a small wood. Some of the saplings on the ground had been trodden and a thin branch had been broken, so he headed into the woods. His decision to do so was reaffirmed when his barely functioning sense of smell caught a small whiff of Fumiko's scent. He sped up. Something was wrong in this village.

He found he was travelling an unused dirt track that stretched through the woods for a few minutes before it opened out into a glade with a gentle spring to one side. It would have been a beautiful spot had it not been for the burnt out and decayed remains of a house. He approached the rotting timbers slowly, hearing her whimpers before he saw her.

She sat there on her knees with her arms clutched around her torso. She was bent over in what would appear to be intense physical pain, but Naruto knew better. He knew it was her heart that ached. She had never dealt with her sorrow, but instead pushed it to the side and been grateful for the happy life she now possessed.

Naruto started to move closer but Kyuubi stopped him.

**Hey Kit, I think this is one you should handle without me.**

_You sure? What if I screw up? _

Kyuubi couldn't help but laugh a little at the hint of panic in Naruto. **You'll be fine. At this point you have better instincts than me, so just go with them.**

The now nervous ninja gulped and summoned Kyuubi. The fox merely winked at him and trotted off, but only to the tree line. Just because he wasn't on the front lines didn't mean he was going to miss any of the action.

Naruto gathered up his courage, not failing to miss the irony that he could dive headlong into a battle with an army of enemies without any trouble, but balks at having to comfort the girl he liked – or loved if he was truly honest with himself. With a final nod of determination, he walked over and knelt in front of her.

"Fumi?" he asked gently, placing his hand softly on her shoulder.

She didn't answer, as if she hadn't even heard him, and kept on quietly crying.

He gave her shoulder a light squeeze and rubbed his thumb over her skin. "Fumi?" he called a hint louder than the first time.

Painfully slowly, she lifted her head to look at him with a gaze that felt like it was over a vast distance. The hopeless fear and pain in her eyes stilled his entire being. He would never be sure just how long he was lost in those emerald depths, but at some point he had taken hold of her other shoulder as if to ground her in this reality, the reality where he was right in front of her.

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It was painful. All she could do was scream to the darkness. It felt like her heart itself was crying rather than her own tightly shut eyes. The tears and the agony wouldn't stop. Desperately she tried to recall her memories of a life long past, a life that held a lost happiness, a lost family. There were brief images, blurs and scrambled emotions. Nothing to catch a hold of, but she kept trying, and with each failed attempt there came a fresh flood of tears and anguish.

They were gone. Gone from the world and her memories. She could recall tiny snatches of their words, but not their voices, not their faces. She was appalled, disgusted with herself. How could she forget? How dare she claim such close ties to those she was too stupid or lazy to even remember? They were forever lost to the darkness of her mind, like the endless black in which she drifted.

_Will it be the same for me? If I stay here, will I be forgotten? Do I have a right to be remembered?_ She sobbed louder and louder until she felt her ears would burst from the sound. _No! _She wailed into the abyss. _I don't want to be here! I don't want to be left alone!_ She was met with silence, the cold silence of the black space. She began to sob again, but paused when she felt an odd sensation. She cautiously clasped her shoulders. They were warm, deliciously warm in the frozen dark. She tightened her grip, clinging to that heat, and brought her knees to her chin. She floated like that for what seemed an eternity. However, as she floated the warmth spread and her eyes drifted shut. When the cold felt like nothing but a dream, she opened them and found Naruto right there, waiting for her.

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He became aware of a change in the air and found the light had returned to Fumiko's eyes, she was back...and staring right at him, so he lost the ability to breathe all over again, but at least he had regained a pulse – even if it was going ten to the dozen.

Fumiko finally noticed she was staring and glanced away.

This woke Naruto from his trance. "You ok?" he whispered.

She nodded, then changed her mind and shook her head.

Her companion waited patiently for her to explain.

"I – I forgot them!" she sobbed with renewed vigour and tightly gripped the material at her sides. Naruto guessed who she meant and waited for her to continue. "I can't picture their faces! They're gone!" her head waved side to side as she moved to look up at him once again, the sharp movement shaking tears free from her eyes and cheeks. "They gave their lives for me and I can't even remember their faces!"

He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't stand to see her in such distress. Before he was aware of what he was doing, he took her hands, stood up, pulled her up with him and tugged her gently into his arms. She stiffened for a second with her hands on his chest then let his comforting warmth flow into her.

Fumiko gripped his white t-shirt as she wept. Only this time the grief didn't suffocate her. It lessened with each tear and the pain eased with every second he held her.

/\\ /\\

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Kakashi and Sasuke sped after the dogs, with the adoptive father nearly frantic. They had been searching for Fumiko for ages, but found no sign of either her or Naruto. He nearly had a mental breakdown when the dogs said they wouldn't be much help with the weird smell about the place. But she was their master's pup and part of the pack, so they all volunteered to help out anyway.

They eventually found their way to the woodland path and hurled along its length. They would have dashed straight into the clearing had they not spotted Kyuubi sitting with his tails curled around himself and wiping a runny nose with his paw. They just stood there and gawked at the demon that had terrorised Konoha not 12 years before, sure enough he was being controlled, but still...it was safe to say not one of them expected to see that.

Kyuubi turned his head to the newcomers. "Hey." He sniffed. "My Kit is growing up so fast..." he had a good sniffle and returned his attention to the clearing, as did the others.

What they saw produced...mixed...reactions. The dogs were happy that things were moving along for the pups they knew should be together and Sasuke smirked knowing he had just won a good amount of cash off Shikamaru and Ino. Kakashi on the other hand didn't know whether he was happy or devastated. However, he wasn't given long to dwell on it as a ruckus started to approach from the other end of the trail.

"Moment over." Kyuubi declared and rushed over to the young pair. "Sorry Kit but we've got bad company." With that he dispelled himself, thus returning to Naruto who hastily redid the genjutsu that hid his ears and tail. Rather than moving Fumiko behind him to guard her, he wrapped an arm back around her waist and placed his other hand defensively on her upper arm.

Kyuubi erupted into mental tears of pride.

The others joined them and they waited for the small rabble to arrive. Sure enough they soon entered the clearing. A couple of them were even carrying torches and pitchforks.

**I don't appreciate the cliché. **Kyuubi grumbled.

Kakashi's dogs took up defensive positions around their master and pack members.

"There they are!" One of the villagers pointed.

"See look at her!"

"It is her! It's the demon spawn!" another cried.

"Monster!" they started to chant.

Kakashi glanced at Pakkun. "Did they just call my angel a monster?" he asked calmly. The type of calm that sent shivers of dread down your spine.

"I think they did." The small dog growled. The rest followed his example and at some silent signal they charged the mob. They aimed to more drive them off than actually harm them, but there are always going to be a few casualties on the battlefield. In this case for instance it was the unlucky man that had Bull sit on his back.

While the villagers made their retreat, Team 7 made theirs. The dogs dispersed and Kakashi led his three students in the direction of home. He had made it his top priority when gathering their supplies to find out what way Konoha actually was, as he usually did when he had a bad feeling about a place. And this village certainly had a bad feeling. It was now obvious that this was the same village Fumiko had been born in, and those were the same people that had killed her parents out of nothing but their own paranoid fear.

/\\ /\\

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They made steady, but quiet progress towards home. Everyone was alone with their own thoughts, even Naruto, who had summoned Kyuubi again to stop him yapping in his head.

They were further from Konoha than they had thought, to which Naruto apologised profusely, and it would take a couple of days to get back within its familiar walls. None of them slept easy the first night. On the second night, during Naruto's watch, Fumiko gave up on forcing sleep. She silently left her bed roll and walked over to Naruto on impulse.

He noticed her approach and smiled at her. "Can't sleep?" he whispered so as to not wake the others.

She shook her head.

"Need anything?" he asked. He got confused when she started to fidget and was pretty sure there was some blushing going on.

Fumiko didn't know why, but when she saw his half zipped up jacket she got an idea and it made her face fill with warmth. A quick peek at his face told her he was confused and a little worried, but she needed sleep and this was the best idea she had. With a final bite to her bottom lip, she let out her ears and tail, then gave that last push and in swirl of blue she went to her fully fox from. Naruto wasn't given a chance to wonder what she was up to. She dove into the opening in his jacket and curled awkwardly against his chest.

The shocked boy took a couple of seconds to remind his lungs how to function before effortlessly moving his arms to hold her snugly to him. They both relaxed a bit and Fumiko nuzzled down into Naruto's embrace. This was right where she needed to be and soon drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Kyuubi smiled at Naruto's happily dazed expression and let his eye droop shut once again. Out of everyone that he had encountered over the years, it was Naruto – his Kit – he wanted to see happy.


	23. Chapter 23

Hey Ppl!

Here's the next chap for you, hope you like it!

Took a little longer to write, but that's what happens when you don't get the best reviews.

However, I'm gonna keep my chin up and keep writing coz this is my fic and it's way too much fun to create!

Enjoy!

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Chapter 23

The remainder of the journey home was mildly uncomfortable, with Sasuke constantly finding himself stuck between his teammates, who on multiple occasions tried to take sneaky glances at one another. They were caught every time. It did not help matters any with the minimal, but unmistakable, killer intent that rolled off Kakashi whenever he observed Naruto looking at Fumiko. The boy was still sporting the remnants of several bruises he had _acquired_ from his guardian the previous morning.

The Uchiha and Copy Nin had awoken to Fumiko's shriek when she realised she had reverted to her natural half-demon form during her sleep and had obviously spent the remainder of the night held on Naruto's lap with her head tucked under his chin. On her part she was purely embarrassed. Kakashi however...

Let's just say that Naruto's nervous, but not overly so, chuckles gave the distinct impression he had been aware of her from and still had not returned her to her own bed roll, so the father saw red and thought to introduce the almost teenager to the surrounding flora – namely tree trunks. Sasuke was not happy at having to carry the idiot for several miles until he finally rejoined the living, sporting two black eyes, half a dozen lumps and bumps, a dislocated shoulder and a sprained wrist. Whenever Fumiko tried to help the blonde Kakashi would step between them and ask her to leave him be, he had a lesson to learn. This had gained a snort from Sasuke. Kyuubi hadn't actually stopped laughing since Naruto had been sent sailing into the nearest tree.

After another release of killer intent from the protective father made Naruto glance back and take a tiny side step further away from Fumiko. This seemed to appease the jounin, for the moment at least.

Kyuubi erupted into more laughter.

_You know, it's just as well you don't have to breathe in there!_

More bark-like laughter was his only response.

Naruto imagined throwing several kunai at the nine-tailed heckler. _Just what is so damn funny!_

**What isn't funny about this? **The fox bit his tongue to avoid laughing, for just now anyway. **Anyone that wants to win over that vixen has to go through her father first, including you.**

_I still don't see how that can be so damn funny!_

**You think I care?**

_Damn it! You're supposed to help me!_

**No...I'm here to laugh at you. There's a difference.**

Naruto mentally growled and deliberately stared at his feet for the rest for the trip home.

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It was late afternoon when the team finally walked through the tall gates of Konoha. Kakashi was about to suggest they eat out after briefing the Third on the mission when three psychic stomachs growled in protest. He was back to his normal laid-back attitude so he decided to cut his students some slack.

"Alright you three, after that mission I suppose you deserve forgoing the trip to the Hokage's office." The trio instantly perked up. "How about you go for something to eat and I'll meet you there later?"

"Ramen!" Naruto was hastily whacked on the back of the head by Sasuke. "What the hell was that for bastard!" he demanded nursing his swelling head.

"We had ramen for lunch." Charcoal eyes glared at blue, and Sasuke's voice took on a dangerous undertone. "We are _not_ eating it two meals running." Naruto was going to protest but his best friend cut him off, voice barely above a whisper so Kakashi wouldn't hear. "Especially when I had to carry your heavy ass because you wanted to sneak a snuggle with Fumi."

The aforementioned girl gave an inaudible squeak at the statement.

Her discomfort was noticed by Kakashi, who narrowed his visible eye dangerously at Naruto.

Who in turn blinked, gulped and suggested BBQ instead.

All threats forgotten, Sasuke smiled, slapped a hand on Naruto's shoulder, took a gentle hold of Fumiko's left hand and guided them towards their chosen restaurant with a backwards glance to his teacher.

Kakashi's eye was still narrowed at the contact, but not as much as before, Sasuke noted. He would have to pass on the information to Naruto that hands at least were a safe option for the time being, as long as he didn't make a habit of it.

As soon as they entered their second favourite place to chow down they knew one, if not several of their friends were already inside, if Ino's familiar wail was anything to go by. A quick look at the interior told team 7 that their fellow genin had taken up one of the larger tables. Shikamaru was seated at the end of the table with the wall at his back, Sakura was in the first seat to his right and Choji to his left. Ino sat next to the bottomless pit moaning about their latest mission, on occasion giving her cooking meat a frustrated poke just for good measure.

"Can you believe having to handle that brat was a D-Rank!" Ino ranted.

Shikamaru mouthed the word 'troublesome' and sunk his head into his hands, while Sakura placed more vegetables over the grill and rolled her eyes. "He couldn't have been that bad." She reasoned. "He was four."

"You wouldn't be saying that if it had been you running for your life!" the platinum blonde poked her meat too hard and ended up skewering it on her chop-sticks. Using another pair, she growled and freed her own eating utensils. "I swear this kid is Naruto on Speed!"

Sasuke smirked back at the now gaping Naruto. "Actually Ino that's impossible," he interrupted her mid-groan, "If that happens the world would implode." He ignored Naruto's indignant pout and grinned at Sakura, who had got up from her seat to greet them. An action not missed by Fumiko and Ino, who exchanged knowing looks before the blonde looked pointedly to Naruto then back at her.

Fumiko had to stop herself from biting her lip, but the half hidden smile on Ino's face told her she had seen the nervous behaviour between the two. She looked away and her eyes fell upon Sakura's recently vacated seat. Sitting opposite, or beside Naruto wasn't going to do her already jumpy stomach any good, so before the pinkette could protest she nipped into her spot and coolly moved plates and cup down a seat. The now evicted Sakura gave her a odd look then simply shrugged and sat down, but not before she gave the half-demon an evil grin – which was shared with Ino. She was going to be interrogated later.

Sasuke took the place next to Sakura, not surprisingly, and Naruto sat beside him even though it would have been easier to sit beside the other blonde, which did not go unnoticed by the present boy-genius. Shikamaru looked to the Uchiha and sighed when he saw him smirk. He'd lost. _Troublesome._

"So where have you three been?" Sakura asked trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. They hadn't informed their friends they were going anywhere and needless to say she was pissed.

"I hope you've been behaving." Ino winked at Naruto causing him to slouch and blush a little.

Sasuke couldn't help but smile at his friend's embarrassment. He turned his head to the attentive...and fuming...girl beside him and answered her question. "We had a C-Rank to Wave." He told her. "It went up to A-Rank though when some missing nin showed up."

The was a collective gasp from those at the table.

"Did you guys beat them?" Choji asked around another mouthful.

"Of Course." Sasuke replied smugly.

"How?" Sakura asked. She was now more worried that he had injures he wasn't going to tell her about, well...not willingly.

The previously silent members of team 7 couldn't hold in their mirth. Sasuke glared at each of them in turn, but it only turned giggles into outright laughter.

Ino planted her fists on her hips. "What's so funny?" she scolded the pair of them. "How were they beaten?"

Naruto was too busy leaning his forehead on his arm and banging his fist on the table, but Fumiko got her herself back to the giggling stage. "They hurt the tomato." She choked out then laughed to the point of tears when she saw the dawning understanding of the others. Kiba had stolen one of Sasuke's tomatoes a couple of years before and had got a '1000 years of death' for his efforts. Sasuke gave his teammates another glare each, with an extra dose of ice.

After that, the group settled down for some chit chat. The waitress had just left after delivering team 7's drinks when Neji and lee came in supporting a thoroughly dazed Kiba. Hinata walked just behind them carrying an equally zoned out Akamaru. Alongside her was a giggling Tenten and covering the rear was Shino. Those seated waved and grinned in welcome of the rest of their friends. Kiba was dumped at the end of the table on Naruto's side and Akamaru was placed on his head, Tenten nabbed the spot next to Ino, Neji secured the spot next to her – for which Fumiko gave Tenten a wink, making the girl blush, Lee took up the seat between Naruto and Kiba with a flourish, Shino sat next to Neji and Hinata sat opposite the Inuzuka.

The waitress huffed as she brought over yet more drinks, food and utensils, but she was ignored as the gathering of genin caught up on missions, gossip, and the reason for Kiba's presently stoned state.

"We had to clean an old ladies apartment." Hinata informed them.

"That doesn't explain why he keeps mentioning rainbows." Naruto pointed out then popped another piece of beef into his mouth.

"It does when the woman's only cleaning product is bleach." She sighed with a lopsided grin. "Even Shino's bugs were flying into walls because we had to use so much of it. The place was horrific."

Everyone laughed.

"They just wanted to ride the ponies."

Everyone went silent and stared at Shino.

"What?" The bug master actually sounded like he was pouting. "It's not my fault they only tried to bite me."

Everyone just kept staring as if watching the approaching apocalypse.

Naruto recovered first. "Dude...Are you...high...?"

Shino just stared back at him for a few seconds before tilting his head near 90 degrees, in a un-Shino manner.

"He is!" Choji declared and let out a booming laugh, closely followed by the rest of them.

With the situation clarified they carried on with their meal, including the three individuals that had managed to come back down to earth. It was when placing more meat on the grill that Fumiko noticed something that Ino was apparently doing unconsciously. She waited and only a couple of minutes later saw it happen again. Whenever Choji took a breather from eating some meat Ino would snap up some vegetables and feed them to him. She didn't seem aware she was doing it, but he obviously was and enjoying every bit of it. Fumiko gave Sakura a subtle nudge and nodded her head softly in Ino's direction. Sakura, and the wondering-why-he-was-being-ignored Sasuke, watched as Ino did it yet again. The girls leaned together slightly so they could keep their voices as quiet as possible.

"Does that count?" Sakura whispered. Of course there was a bet going as to when the two would get together, but an argument a few months before had brought about a bet as to when they would actually behave like a couple in public. A restaurant certainly was public.

"No." Sasuke chipped in with his own whisper. The girls scowled at him. Their allotted time was almost up. "She doesn't know she's doing it." He told them flatly. "So it doesn't count." That was his reasoning and he was sticking to it. He had just managed to win some money off Shikamaru and like hell was he just going to hand it over to the girls.

By the time Kakashi escaped the Hokage's office and made it to the restaurant they had finished eating, except Choji of course, so he ordered some food to go from the counter and approached the genins' table.

"Yo." He gave a lazy wave.

"You're late!" thirteen of them chorused. The fourteenth barked.

He didn't even bother to respond to that. He just turned back to the counter when the cook shouted "Order Up!", collected his food and headed for the door. Before he left he looked back at them and called over his shoulder, "I expect you both home in an hour!"

Fumiko groaned while the others giggled at the pair's expense.

Naruto just sighed. "There's a couple things I want to read up on anyway." He leaned forward and threw a nervous grin down the table to Fumiko. "Fancy grabbing some ice-cream before we head home? I'm sure we ran out just before we left."

Everyone watched her for her answer. Her _friends_ were only making her more nervous. _He just wants to stock up on ice-cream. _She mentally growled. _Honestly, you would think he had just asked me on a date or something. _She nodded in agreement to him, stood up and handed Sakura her share of the bill. _Not that I would mind. _She blinked and blushed bright red. _Where the hell did that come from! _She tilted her head forward to hide her blush and followed Naruto out the door with a hurried wave to her friends.

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**Damn it Kit! She is blushing! You hear me _blush-ing_! Meaning, your not-so-subtle hints are at least starting to have an effect!**

_I have no idea what you're talking about._

**Don't even try to pull that shit with me! I'm in your head, remember!**

_I'm not going to suddenly ask her to be my girlfriend when, in case _you've _forgotten, she didn't take waking up with me holding her like that too well._

**Of course not! Your hand was on her ass, you spiky-headed moron!**

Naruto blinked a couple of times. _So that's what was nice and squishy._

Kyuubi slapped one of his many tails to his forehead. **I don't know whether the old pervert would be proud or ashamed.**

_What are you on about now?_

**Nothing...Look just ask her out already!**

_No._

**Yes.**

_No!_

**Yes!**

_NO!_

**YES!**

"That is fucking it!" Naruto exclaimed out loud, causing Fumiko to jump. She had been watching his face and knew he was arguing with Kyuubi, but she didn't expect him to yell out like that. He usually kept his anger at the fox in-check. Without another thought, Naruto slammed his right hand onto the stone wall beside him and summoned Kyuubi.

"Well that certainly wasn't called for." The fox snubbed.

"It was and you bleeding know it!" the blonde ground out then jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Now piss off!"

Fumiko gaped at him. "Naruto!" she hissed.

He managed not to wince at her tone...just.

"No matter what you were bickering about, that was a bit harsh." Her embarrassment had been dissolved with her anger. She knew it and was taking full advantage.

"That's what I was trying to tell him." Kyuubi fake-sniffed and plodded over to Fumiko, currently the size of a large dog.

Naruto stood there with his jaw hanging as Kyuubi gave a small whimper and nudged his head under Fumiko's hand. She in turn looked down at him with sympathy and gently stroked his head and ears. It was all out of reflex until she realised Kyuubi was never affectionate like this. The second she did her hand paused and the fox took it as his queue to leave.

"See," he said looking up at her, "this is why we would _both_ be lost without you." He turned to Naruto, winked and then vanished into the approaching night.

The two of them were just left standing there utterly dumbfounded.

It took a while for the silence to get to Naruto, but when it did he decided to break it. "So..." _Well that was a lame start. _"I didn't manage to apologise for the other morning, you know with being knocked out and all." He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

She looked at him shyly. _Damn girl! What the hell is wrong with you lately! _She screamed at herself. Outwardly she kept quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"So...um...sorry." he muttered looking down. "You..." he sighed. "You just looked so peaceful finally that I didn't want to disturb you."

Her features softened. He had only been thinking of her getting some rest. _It's not like he was taking advantage or anything. _For some reason that disappointed her, but she shoved the '_why_' to the back of her head for now.

Naruto held his breath as he watched the confused look drift off her face and be replaced by a gentle smile.

"Don't worry about it." She laughed gently.

He couldn't help but smile in return as he felt a couple days of stress ease away. He shook his head a little and gave a low chuckle. "How about we get that ice-cream before our curfew ends and Kakashi hunts us down?"

Fumiko giggled and nodded happily. It was ice-cream...hell would freeze over before she said no.

Her companion grinned then, without actually thinking, he took her hand and started off for their favourite store. If he had known what he had just done, he would have been nearly giddy to find Fumiko still blushing, but making no protest against the contact. In fact, anyone watching would see she was quite happy about it, even if she didn't have the faintest clue why.


	24. Chapter 24

Hello everyone. Got majorly distracted from this for ages but I'm hopefully going to be

getting it back on track.

Please leave a review to let me know what you think (^_^)

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Chapter 24

Fumiko stood at the cooker trying to focus on making the household pancakes for breakfast, but it was difficult when Naruto kept power-napping with his head bobbing up and down, sometimes returning to the upright position with a little bit more butter, syrup or jam on his face. Every so often Kyuubi would snatch a pancake from him. Had Naruto been fully alert, like usual, the fox would have lost a patch of fur, as the blonde tended to fight tooth and nail for girl's pancakes. The canine was about to push his luck once again when Kakashi entered the kitchen with a stiff yawn.

"Morning Papa!" Fumiko chirped a tad louder than necessary.

Naruto jumped taking her hidden hint and gave his guardian a lazy wave. "Where did you go so early in the morning?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye at his charge. "I was summoned by the Hokage." He paused to gauge the boy's reaction. "There was an incident with the Tower ANBU and he wanted to know if I knew anything about it."

"Why would you know something?" Fumiko asked innocently.

"Whatever it was, don't look at me." Kyuubi snubbed. "I was with the vixen reading up on demon-lore." That freed him from Kakashi's suspicious glare, but earned him a new one from Naruto. Kyuubi merely smirked back at the boy.

With his full attention on Naruto, the older ninja continued his explanation. "It was the manner of the incident that had the Hokage call upon me. All of the ANBU stationed within the Tower and are charged with its security have had flowers mysteriously appear on their masks."

Kyuubi barked a laugh. "What kind of flowers?"

"It was hard to tell. They were really rather crap." He scratched his head in thought. "My guess would have to be daisies."

"Why would anyone go to all the trouble of putting _daisies_ on the masks?" asked Kyuubi.

"No idea." Kakashi answered, beginning to doubt his suspicions in the blonde and felt guilty for being so quick to blame him. The boy simply had a look of hurt and confusion on his face. With a shrug he gave him the benefit of the doubt. "Alright Naruto, if you didn't do it, fine. Any ideas on who would be stupid enough to put something as meaningless as daisies on ANBU masks?"

With an audible growl, Naruto exited and re-entered the kitchen in a blur. "They're freaking PANSIES!" He yelled. "And they're not crap! I practiced on them for 3 days, see!" He shoved an open sketchbook under Kakashi's nose.

Kyuubi and Fumiko sweatdropped.

Kakashi stared at the pages in pure disbelief. _How is it possible for someone fast becoming an unparalleled genius of sealing, and God knows what else, to be this shit at drawing?_ He pushed the unanswerable question to the back of his mind and snapped the book shut with one hand. "So…" he started. "Care to tell me why you pulled the prank, not to mention how in the Hell you weren't seen, yet alone caught?"

Naruto sighed and returned to his breakfast. "Any of our friends could have done it." He stated in a rather bored fashion. "The security at the Tower is pants and the guys stationed there are pansies."

"I see…so you were trying to prove a point?"

A satisfied smirk was his only reply before the blonde began begging Fumiko for more pancakes. He was reaching for the plate but it was swiped by Kakashi and its contents scoffed. The silver-haired ninja ignored Naruto's whines and left the house to inform the Hokage that he needed to heighten security if he didn't want frustrated screams echoing down the Tower corridors to be a common occurrence.

/\\ /\\

\ ^ ^ /

\ _ /

"Target sighted." A girl with twin buns whispered into her radio as she hid in the alleyway. "Flower, can you confirm?"

"Sighting confirmed Bulls Eye." Added a young blonde from a rooftop across the street. "Healer, Hime, do you have a visual?"

"Affirmative. All units prepare to move on my mark." The pink-haired ninja nodded to her pale-eyed partner.

"Roger." Voiced Bulls Eye.

"Ready when you are!" Flower smirked. "This is going to be fun."

Healer's voice came over the radio again. "We go in 3…2…1…"

/\\ /\\

\ ^ ^ /

\ _ /

Naruto and his half-demon teammate headed for the Hokage Tower. After Kakashi returned for the second time he had informed them that there were no missions for them today and the Third wished for Naruto to drop by at his earliest convenience. In other words he didn't want anyone to know Naruto was there. The poor boy was just about to get up the courage to ask Fumiko on an actual date when, in an instant, she was gone from his side with a small swirl of dust off the road. He saw her being dragged at speeds high enough to have her feet flying behind her for a spilt second before she was gone, and he was left standing there gaping. With his plans effectively ruined for the majority of the day, he shrugged off his surprise and made off in the direction of Shikamaru's favourite cloud watching spot.

/\\ /\\

\ ^ ^ /

\ _ /

The group of girls arrived at the Den in record time. All except Fumiko were out of breath. Said prisoner was currently seeing 12 girls instead of 4 with her head swaying. She may have been able to run fast and be fine, but being dragged was a different matter entirely.

Still panting, Ino looked behind her to check on their captive and froze. Eyes going wide, she urgently nudged Tenten on her left. She did the exact same as Ino and nudged the next girl in line to get her attention, Sakura.

Sakura to turned her friends and upon seeing their expressions followed their gaze back to Fumiko. Seeing nothing amiss she looked back at them. "What?" she shrugged.

Both frozen girls turned their heads in unison to their pink-haired friend in utter confusion before turning back to Fumiko to find she had recovered from her dizziness but was now in a scarier situation, well to her anyway. She was now backed up against the closed door, arms and legs spread apart in a desperate attempt to keep as much distance between herself and the advancing Hyuuga heiress. Hinata was inching her hands closer to the origin of Ino and Tenten's shock and confusion – two twitching, furry fox ears.

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh and placed her hand on Hinata's shoulder. "I think Fumi would prefer for her ears to remain attached to her head."

"But…" Hinata protested. In a half-hearted attempt to have her way she pulled the puppy act with the big eyes and quivering lip. _This always works on Kiba._

The giant lavender eyes were tempting, but Sakura knew she shouldn't feed Hinata's obsession. She shook her head, the Hyuuga let out a dramatic sob and the half-demon let out a relieved sigh.

Ino and Tenten looked at each other again.

"I think we're missing something here."

Ino could only nod. Their eyes practically bulged out their heads when Fumiko walked past them and through to the kitchen, with a tail swaying behind her.

When they had all settled at the kitchen table, well all but Sakura who started to busy herself at the stove, they listened to Fumiko tell her tale. She went on to tell them the encounter with her village at the end of the Wave mission, leaving out the interactions with Naruto, and finished with an apology for not telling them sooner.

Ino cried as she held the girl in a one-armed hug. "Don't worry about it." She told her. "Both you and the idiot will always have us."

"Hell Yeah!" came from Sakura's direction, but she didn't look up from whatever she was doing. Whether she was cooking or making a chemical weapon was unclear.

"Anyway…" Hinata cleared her throat to get the groups attention. "Care to tell us what happened between you and Naruto?" she smirked devilishly.

Fumiko sat bolt upright with her ears forward, tail stock still and a blush staining her pale cheeks.

The rest of the girls mimicked Hinata's expression.

"Nothing happened." She squeaked.

"Bullshit!" Ino scowled.

Sakura then decided to pipe up. "I suggest you tell us or I'll let Hinata off her leash."

Fumiko's ears flattened against her head before Hinata whips out both hands and holds them at the ready in front of her. One containing a hairbrush and the other had several ribbons.

Sweat dripped down the fox-girl's face as Hinata's maniacal grin slowly grew. Finally her chin dropped to her chest and her ears drooped in defeat. _Well if I can't tell them who can I tell?_

/\\ /\\

\ ^ ^ /

\ _ /

When Naruto arrived at his destination, not only was Shikamaru there, but the rest of the guys too. "Don't some of you have missions to do, or at least some training to get on with?"

Kiba paused in rubbing Akamaru's belly to answer the blonde. "The jounin all have a meeting about the chunnin exams."

"Isn't info on the exams classified?" Naruto smirked.

"Of course." The Inuzuka scoffed. "But gathering intel is a ninja's job." He grinned as his canine partner barked in agreement.

"Naruto my youthful rival," Lee started and the guys braced themselves, "why not take advantage of your flames of youth and take the enchanting Lady Fumiko on a date!"

Naruto let out an embarrassed chuckled. "I was going to, but she got kidnapped by the girls." He scratched the back of his neck and blushed when he realised he had basically admitted he liked Fumiko to his friends.

"IT IS WONDERFUL YOU ARE FINALLY AWARE OF YOUR FEELINGS! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTER THAN EVER!"

Sasuke and Neji tackled the spandex-clad boy to the ground and clamped their hands over his mouth while the rest of the boys removed their fingers from their ears. "Lee!" Neji whispered harshly. "Remember that talk you and Gai-sensei had on volume levels?"

Lee nodded.

"Remember what we said we would let Tenten do if you didn't stop being so loud?"

Lee nodded faster.

"So, are you going to be quieter now?"

Lee nodded so fast the group thought his head might snap off. This somewhat reassured Neji that their eardrums were safe for the moment, so he and Sasuke slowly removed their hands. Their glares threatened retribution if the now terrified boy did not do as he was told.

Choji paused in chowing down on his candy bar and looked to Naruto, who had sat beside Shikamaru and was leaning back on his arms. "You gonna tell us what's goin on?" he asked the blonde.

Naruto sighed. He didn't know whether to let the rest of the guys in on his secret, even though he knew he could trust them, or if he should just let them in on the Fumiko situation. He looked to Sasuke then Shikamaru and lastly Kiba. They all caught on with what he was thinking and nodded their encouragement. So the time-traveller took a deep breath and got on with it, all of it, minus the time-travel part.

They actually took it rather well, although most of them jumped when he summoned Kyuubi. After a couple of sniffs Akamaru proceeded to play with a couple of the fox's tails, which he didn't mind. It gained a couple of questioning looks and all he gave in explanation was, "Young pups should be allowed to play".

While Naruto answered questions about his heightened senses Lee got progressively louder and more youthful.

It got to the point that Kyuubi could feel his ears burning and turned to Shikamaru. "Does this guy have a mute button?"

"Unfortunately no." the strategist answered pinching the bridge of his nose.

The fox, desperate to save his sense of hearing looked pleadingly at Neji. "Hey!" he called raising his voice over the noise. "You're a Hyuuga right?"

Neji nodded slightly confused.

"Can't you use your Gentle Fist on his vocal cords?"

The Hyuuga was dumbfounded. He turned to Lee, held a finger at the offending spot and tapped.

For a few moments the area was deathly silent. They all thought that they had suddenly gone deaf.

Neji held the finger he had used in front of his face. "It…worked…" he whispered, his voice pure astonishment.

"Holy Crap…"Kiba cursed in disbelief.

Choji turned to Shikamaru. "Why didn't you think of that?"

/\\ /\\

\ ^ ^ /

\ _ /

While the boys were busy enjoying their enlightening revelation, the girls were equally occupied trying to enlighten Fumiko. They couldn't blame her for being clueless; especially when they now knew the girl's – altered – history. Out of frustration Ino decided to break it down into simple bits for her friend.

"Look, does your heart beat faster whenever he's near you?" she asked.

Fumiko nodded slowly.

"Does it go even faster when he touches you?"

With an ever growing blush the fox girl nodded again. The other girls caught on to what Ino was up to and added in their own questions.

"Do you think about him a lot?" Tenten asked.

The lack of verbal response and start of hair fiddling was answer enough.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"Does he make you feel warm, safe and happy inside?" Ino pressed as she leaned forward in anticipation of victory. She had to hide the start of a triumphant grin when she heard the mumbled affirmative.

Hinata smirked when she finished off the interrogation. "Do you day dream about him petting your ears and tail?"

Fumiko spluttered at this, but when the unbelieving faces of her friends made it clear that no stuttering denial would be accepted, she sighed and nodded. "Yeah…way too often…" She looked pleadingly at those precious to her. "What's going on with me?" she asked.

"Oh that's simple." Ino replied. "You're in love, or close enough to it!"

She couldn't believe her ears. _Are they right? I know I love him, but am I truly _in _love with him? _The idea was completely alien to her, but somehow it fit. _If I told him would he love me back? The way we live we seem more like….._

The poor half-demon didn't know whether to faint or scream in frustration. Instead she decided to go with depressed. "Yet more proof of my shitty luck." She sighed.

The girls gaped at her dumbfounded at that. Even Sakura finally turned to stare at her.

"Come again…?" asked Tenten.

"What? It's just my luck that I fall for a guy that sees me as a sister."

They face vaulted. "You kidding me!?" Tenten exclaimed picking herself up. "The way he looks at you is not how a guy looks at a sister!"

She didn't believe them as they moved onto a more embarrassing subject.

Tenten squealed in delight. "Imagine what their kids would look like? Tiny fox ears and tails!"

Sakura and Ino giggled loudly while Hinata was lost in her own little world full of kids with adorable fox ears and ribbon-bound tails. Even Fumiko was caught up in the thought sporting a blush equal to Sasuke's favourite food.

All forms of fantasising were brought to an abrupt end when Sakura yelled out "Done!" she held what looked like a bento above her head for a split second before she made a mad dash for the door. As she was hastily putting on her sandals she called back to them. "Gotta go girls! I need to get this lunch to Sasuke!" she told them then flew through the door, slamming it behind her.

"She was making…lunch?" the bushy-tailed girl asked. A distinct thread of fear laced her voice.

With a shudder they looked to the kitchen and saw what could only be described as a disaster area. Hinata pointed to something. "What's that sticking to the wall?"

"I think its rice…" Ino answered.

With great worry for Sasuke Tenten enquired what they were all wondering. "Is it meant to be florescent green?"

/\\ /\\

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\ _ /

Once their legendary achievement sunk in the boys set about harassing Naruto on how he would win Fumiko's heart. When no answers were forthcoming they tackled him to the ground only for him to go up in smoke.

"When did he…?" Sasuke asked no one in particular.

"About 20 seconds ago." Kyuubi piped up. "Now there is some rabbit meat calling my name." With that he stood, reduced his size and took off into the woods.

"Should we be worried?" Neji wondered aloud.

"Nah." The Uchiha answered. "Naruto's been letting him out to hunt for years."

"Speaking of…" Kiba started. "Anyone else up for a hunt?"

Everyone grinned and nodded before taking off in pursuit of their blonde friend.

/\\ /\\

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\ _ /

Sakura heard Sasuke before she saw him in an exhausted heap on the ground with the rest of the boys in their group, minus a blonde. She heard one of them mumble something about 'stupid clones' before she took a hold of Sasuke's collar and dragged him off to 'give' him lunch, no force-feeding or blackmail intended, at all, really…

/\\ /\\

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\ _ /

Naruto sat at his favourite ramen stand relaxed and happy. He had hidden himself completely under the genjutsu he used to cover his ears and tail while his clone had waited for his friends arrived seeking him out. Once they had tackled it and it dispelled, they realised they weren't going to find him there so mentally checked the location off their list and moved on. After they were out of site Naruto had retracted his jutsu to its normal coverage and finished the bowl the clone had started before ordering the next. Normally he wouldn't have done such a thing in public, but no one else was around at that moment so no harm done. Each time a clone dispelled the whiskered boy would chuckle at his friends' antics. When the final clone reported the end of the search due to exhaustion he paid for his meal and made his way to the Den in the vague hope Fumiko would be there and he could finally ask her out.

Not even two minutes later a rectangular rock started to follow him. He decided to play along for now, all the while pledging to get the boy and his teammates up to standard asap.

After catching a whiff of his scent during her desperate flee from her kidnappers Fumiko hid in the shadows and watched the scene. She shook her head and laughed softly, but it was loud enough for Naruto to hear and the smile that had come on his face when she arrived only grew at the sound.

Firmly telling her pulse to slow down at seeing his expression, she dropped into sight and landed softly beside him.

"Hey Fumi." Naruto grinned. It was now an automatic response whenever she was nearby. "What did the girls what?" he asked and was even more curious when she just blushed and turned her head away from him.

As she did she caught a glimpse of the box and gave her teammate a questioning glance carefully hidden from their observers. With eyes bright with mischief he merely winked in answer and started to continue down the path. Concealing her smile Fumiko followed. As soon as Naruto's back was to the box his hands were a blur of motion and before a second could pass Tora landed right in front of the box, screeching. It was soon echoed by screams, a small 'boom' and a cloud of smoke. As it cleared three coughing kids could be seen. When they regained their composure they looked about in confusion.

"Where did the cat go?" the boy in glasses asked obviously worried that it was readying another attack. Instead of an answer all they got was laughter. The children looked to the older pair and scowled.

"One word." Naruto chuckled reigning in his mirth. "Genjutsu."

Instantly the demeanour of the three changed. "Cool Boss! Will you teach us it?"

"Maybe later." The blonde smiled as he couldn't help but look to Fumiko and add, "I'm busy just now." The implication completely flew over the half demon's head, but the younger kids caught it easily.

"But Boss you said you'd play ninja with us! Can't your date wait until later?" Konohamaru was not letting Naruto out of playing ninja that easy. He saw the girl's blush and because he liked her decided to add, "Even if she is very cute."

Naruto saw the deep blush on Fumiko's face and decided this was too delicate a subject at the moment so it was up to him to defuse the situation. "Alright, listen up!" he commanded with a hint of mirth. "You want to play so bad then we'll play. Loser gets hung by their toes and has to listen to Iruka-sensei talk about the history of Konoha." He finished with a sadistic grin.

"Ok…" Moegi agreed hesitantly. "What's the game?"

The blonde's grin only widened. "Simple. Don't get caught."

The three were stumped for all of an instant before they sprang into movement and ran for the sake of their sanity. The two genin shared a smile and took off after the trio. However their heightened hearing soon picked up an "oomph!" and sharp intakes of breath. The pair sped around the corner and Naruto was faced with scene from his past. With a sigh he walked forward. "Put him down." He told the boy holding his friend by his collar with enough authority to rival any Kage. This itself shocked the sand nin into obeying and he lowered the boy down. He was just starting to recover as Konohamaru ran to join his friends behind Fumiko's legs when Naruto shocked him and his sister, if the gasp from behind him was any indicator, once again.

"Good now get the spying raccoon down here." His voice was still commanding but had the smallest trace of humour in it.

Before either of the siblings could do anything the third member of their team appeared from a swirl of sand in front of them. He looked over at the blonde with cold eyes. "Why did you call me such a name?" he asked.

Naruto thought it best to lower his voice so the younger kids couldn't here. "It's easy to scent out a _raccoon_ when you're a _fox._" He hinted.

This made absolutely no sense to Gaara, but his 'mother' was panicking like hell.

**Shit! There is no freaking way, but if it's true I AM SCREWED!**

_What is wrong mother?! Should I kill him? Will his blood make you better?_

**God no! Do NOT piss this guy off! **Shukaku knew what the blonde was hinting at him being and just who his prisoner was. He knew if the boy had the advanced senses of the fox then they were on _very_ good terms. Meaning, should they fight, the sand demon would have his ass handed to him. **Apologise to him and get the hell out of here!**

The redhead could find no argument so did as he was told, much to the amazement of his siblings, but not before he got the boy's name.

/\\ /\\

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End file.
